Six Times The Machine
by Zaraen
Summary: She was ready for her final stand. Ready to take as many as those alien bastards down as she could. Only, things didn't turn out how she expected. Death didn't claim her and now she's on the one planet they all swore to protect, but there's one difference. Someone else found it and now she's an alien to her own heritage. A machine in the eyes of this Humanity. Then there's that AI.
1. Prologue: Lone Wolf

Alright, so here's what's been hogging all my attention from my other story. I haven't finished writing the whole thing yet -not even close, haha- but here's a little taste of what it's about.

To those of you who haven't read my other stories, be thankful ;) Just kidding, they're alright, but I think I've improved a lot since I wrote them. At least I hope I have.

Anyway, this is a fic primarily about Noble Six's interaction with another alien species and how she deals with it without losing who she is, if you get what I mean. There will be action, but the story will -and I'll do my best to make it work- be about the culture clash and interaction. There'll also be the subject of Six being like a machine; with the inspiration coming from Halo 4 and Chief's lack of humanity.

If I ever get anything wrong -as I don't have a beta-, or something need's explaining better, then just leave a review or PM me and I'll answer.

One last thing, the updates for this will be slow. I may have written ahead -for once- but this is going to be a long journey for Six so it will take a while.

I hope you all enjoy :)

_Thoughts_

"Speech"

Prologue: Lone Wolf

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Reach: The hub of the UNSC's military power. It was their fortress among the stars and all that stood between the Covenant and the home of the Human race; Earth.

It was a hub that had all but been destroyed, regardless of any attempts to stop it.

Despite the odds, the UNSC had put up a good fight, but in the end it was not enough, and all they had to show for their efforts were the heavy losses they'd sustained. Countless people had died, civilian and military alike. Their screams of both hopelessness and determination had been heard all over the planet as it burned. No one was safe from the might of the Covenant's overwhelming force. Any resistances left on the planet were being stamped out by Covent forces, while the glassing of the planet took place.

But while some continued to resist, the noise of their fighting was overshadowed one individual who made the loudest noise, as she refused to go down. She survived wave after wave and no matter how tired she felt, she continued to battle on against the seemingly endless horde of Covenant. Her guns frequently clicked out of ammunition, but that didn't stop her as she managed to scrounge around for more.

Like anyone else, she'd had a team. There'd been six of them in total and each of them had done their part to ensure humanity's survival. But they'd all gone, just like so many others, and once again she was a Lone Wolf.

Irony hit her as she downed another Ultra. Her Commander had said to leave all her 'Lone Wolf stuff' behind her, and look at her now; a Lone Wolf, fighting against all the odds just to survive another day. She snorted to herself as she slammed a magazine of bullets into her beaten and borrowed Assault Rifle, and took aim at yet another Elite.

Rumbles echoed across the sky as the glassing of the planet carried on behind her while she continued to fire at the Elite and before long the bullets pierced its shield. Under her helmet she gave a small smile in satisfaction before rolling out the way of the plasma grenade that had been thrown in her direction. Heat licked at her armor and with the overturned and burnt out Warthog no longer protecting her from its fire she heard the Elite growl in success. She frowned to herself and a single shot managed to sneak in and hit her shields before she downed the Elite with a well-placed shot to the head from her magnum.

A small noise escaped the creature before it crumpled to the floor and she ran out to its body to see if there were any plasma grenades that she could use. Unfortunately there wasn't any, instead there was just the single plasma rifle it'd been trying to take her down with. Her eyes scanned the fallen body of the Elite, taking in the style of the armor and putting it together with the weak shield that it'd had, she came to the conclusion that this was a 'Minor', one of the lowest ranked Elites she'd come across. In fact, over the past hour she'd started to see less and less of the lower ranked Covenant soldiers, which meant that somebody was diverting the tougher enemies to her.

A huge roar in the distance made her head snap up before she started to scan the area in front of her. In the heavy cloud of dust and dirt that surrounded the whole battlefield, she managed to make out the silhouettes of a group of Elites that were evidently making their way towards her. Another smile crept onto her face, and keeping herself low the black and crimson coloured Spartan picked up the plasma rife before moving away from the corpse and seemingly disappearing into thin air.

She moved quickly and quietly and flanked around the new contacts that had appeared. She watched their movement, took note of what she expected their skill set's to be and formulated a plan in her head. The Elites walked slowly and cautiously towards where she'd just vacated as they knew she was not yet gone. The leader of the group –what appeared to be a General- stopped and crouched down at the body, muttering something that was incoherent to the watching Spartan. His group of four Ultras also stopped and took up positions around him. One called out something to the General, who then barked back a reply and stood up from the body.

From her crouching position the Spartan scooped up a small rock and threw it into a small crumbling structure. The small noise it made caught the attention of the Elites and the General sent two of the Ultras to the structure. Smiling inwardly the Spartan followed after the Elites, pulling out her combat knife as she did so.

When she reached the structure she found one of the Ultras with its back to her while the other was on the other side of the room. She noticed that they were both getting twitchy and knew she had to take the opportunity to take one down. Bracing her legs she launched herself onto the Ultras back with her knife raised. Noticing the new weight on his back, they Elite tried to pry her off but it was to no avail as she swiftly plunged her knife into its neck and twisted it roughly. Pushing off it's back with her feet as she pulled out the knife, blood splattered back at her briefly before the momentum of the dying Ultra sent it crashing into its comrade. Ignoring the blood that had begun to cover her armor the Spartan charged forwards so fast that the second Ultra had little time to recover before it found a knife sweeping up and splitting open its neck.

A gurgled sound escaped the Elite as its blood ran onto the Spartan's armor and it too fell to the floor beside its comrade and was soon surrounded by a pool of blood. The dark purple blood surrounded the Spartan's no longer invisible foot and with a small chuckle she flicked the blood off her knife and unholstered her assault rifle.

_Let the fun begin,_ she thought as she ran out to meet the remainder of the group and whatever else lay before her.

So began one of the last battles the Lieutenant of Noble team would ever be in, in the Human-Covenant War.

This was the last stand of Noble Six, Spartan-B312.

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Thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a review, favorite or follow.

See you all next time.


	2. Guardian's Approach

I decided to put this chapter up sooner than originally planned. It's not long, but I assure you, they'll get longer.

Thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows guys :)

**Telron:** I'm glad you liked it, I hope it doesn't disappoint :)

**Guest:** Glad I did her justice, Six won't go down easily in this story especially when it comes to aliens :)

**Mr Review (I'm so sorry I got you're name wrong, I was in a bit of a rush):** I'm on it :D I've written ahead, but I won't post it all at once as I want to go over it and you'll have to wait longer for the stuff I've gotta write :L

**MarshallAlexandraAnderson:**Ah, well, here you go, no Six this chapter, but we'll see her again very soon :)

_Thinking_

_"Sangheili"_

Guardian's Approach

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**Roh 'Rithinee, Surface of Reach, Fifty Kilometres from Noble Six **

Roh 'Rithinee was not a happy Sangheili. In fact he was beyond anger and as far into rage as you could possibly get. The reason for his rage being the sleek, shiny, but closed door that was sat tauntingly in front of him. He and his team of three Zealots had managed to uncover it a few days ago and due to its forerunner nature he had managed to have the glassing in the surrounding area held off until the last possible moment.

"_Field Marshal 'Rithinee?"_ A voice from behind him rumbled and he turned to see who'd disturbed him this time. When he saw who it was, he barely managed to hold back a small chuckle, before him stood the newest and youngest addition to his team; Vito 'Sivee.

"_Vito, why have you disturbed me?" _Roh asked, his voice more stern than usual as he knew he would otherwise be soft on the youngster. Vito reminded Roh of his brother, only Vito had been less affected by the war than Thar. But now his brother was dead. Killed by one of the Demons at the beginning of the battle on this planet when he'd been sent to a place the humans called 'Visegrád Relay'.

"_Fleet Master M'Kla 'Norhonee wishes to know if you have made any progress with the Forerunner structure," _Vito said in a respectful tone.

Roh kept himself from sighing in frustration and instead kept up his usual calm demeanor, _"Tell the Fleet Master that we have not made any progress. No doubt the relic on the other side is well protected for a reason." _

"_Yes, sir. I shall go tell the Fleet Master, unless you require anything of me?" _

"_Report back to the Fleet Master first, I may have something for you later." _

"_May the Forerunners guide you, Field Marshal." _Vito bowed before backing out of the room and left Roh once again, alone with his thoughts and the locked door in front of him. His amber eyes scanned the door from corner to corner until an uneven amount of rock on the right side caught his attention.

"_What are you hiding?" _Roh murmured to himself as he began to walk towards the object of his attention.

The rough dull rock appeared to curve outwards and as Roh got closer to it, it became more apparent that there was something underneath it. His mandibles curled into a smirk and he stretched a hand out to the piece of rock. Its surface was rough and cold underneath his black skin. He frowned as he ran his hands over the rocks chipped edges and wondered how they'd managed to miss something that seemed so obvious.

Grabbing a hold of what he now believed was the obstacle between himself and enlightenment by the Forerunners Roh smirked. He increased the pressure of his hold on the rock and found that it was already loose. Figuring that it must not have been completely dislodged in the excavation of the structure Roh made a mental note to deal with whoever had be head of the excavation team later.

Roh chuckled to himself as he wrenched the rock off the wall and as soon as he did three beams of orange light struck him -one from each side of the door and another from above. He felt nothing but a slight tingle as he was bathed in the light, which finished as quickly as it'd begun. The beams retreated back to the ports they had come from and the door did nothing but remain its stationary sleek self that emitted a small blue glow.

A growl was about to escape his mouth but before it could a floating metal orb appeared beside Roh. The Field Marshal quickly unclipped his dual plasma rifles from each of his legs and aimed them at the floating orb. On its front was a glowing pale blue eye that flashed dimly when the orb began to speak.

"I would suggest that you cease trying to enter my instillation as you are not a Reclaimer. Anyone who is not a Reclaimer or has not been given authorisation by the Librarian is forbidden to enter this installation," the orb said as it whizzed around Roh, causing him to miss the faintest flicker of red on the orbs 'eye'.

What is a Reclaimer? The thought floated through Roh mind and left him clueless. But, perhaps, he would find out soon.

Frowning, Roh stopped his eyes from following the orb around the room before speaking, _"Tell me construct, who are you?" _

"I am five-three-seven Guardian's Approach, Monitor of Forerunner Outpost zero-seven."

"_An Oracle of the Gods?" _Roh muttered to himself, not believing what he was seeing. An Oracle of their Gods that could give the Covenant all the information they needed to wipe heresy, which was the Humans, from the galaxy and aid in their ascension.

Lowering his weapons Roh addressed Guardian's Approach,_ "If I were to find you a 'Reclaimer' would we be allowed to enter?" _

"Only if the Reclaimer deems it necessary," Guardian's Approach beamed.

Roh had no idea what a Reclaimer was but he'd noticed how the Oracle spoke in the human tongue. Was it possible that a Reclaimer was a human? No! Roh quickly dismissed that thought. If the Humans were important to the Forerunners the Prophets wouldn't declare them as Heretics, would they? Roh's trust in the Prophets had been wavering lately as they seemed to favor the Brutes more and more, something that all the Sangheili were displeased about. But, there was always the possibility it would amount to nothing and Roh was thinking to deeply about it.

Bringing himself out of his thoughts that some could consider heretical, Roh decided –against all he'd been taught- to go with his original assumption and asked the Oracle, _"These Reclaimers you speak of, they're what we call Humans, yes?" _

"That is correct," Guardian's Approach confirmed before it began whizzing around him again. "That must mean you have encountered a Reclaimer, wonderful! You must bring them here at once! There is much they need to do!" Roh once again missed the flash of amber that came from the Monitor as its constant spinning made it impossible to see. However, Roh did not miss the sudden change in pitch of the Monitors voice when it said 'do'.

Thinking it was just the Oracle getting over excited, Roh ignored it as he mulled over the recent and important revelation that had befallen him. Had the Prophets truly been lying to the Covenant the whole time? Did they know that the Humans were important to their Gods? Roh wasn't sure what to believe, the Oracle of the Gods or the Prophets? It should have been a simple choice but something was stopping him from making it. The fact he'd spent all these years killing Humans made him not want to believe that the Oracle was right, as it meant everything they were doing was for nothing. And what about 'The Great Journey'? Was this a lie too? The Prophets had claimed that the Forerunners had ascended into Godhood but, perhaps the Oracle knew what happened to them. If it did and it turned out the Prophets were wrong Roh would have his answer.

"_Tell me Oracle, what happened to your makers?" _

"Of course, my makers fired the Halo Array in order to combat the Food infection that was consuming the galaxy. The Array wiped out all sentient life within the galaxy, including most of my makers," Guardian's Approach explained as a sad tone entered its voice.

Roh clipped his Plasma rifles back onto his legs and brought a hand up to his temple. A sense of betrayal washed through his mind. So Prophets had lied to them, the entire reason for the Covenant was a lie and the Humans were being slaughtered to extinction for no reason.

He began rubbing his temple in frustration –something he'd also seen a few humans do- as he wondered what to do next. He could tell his team, no, they wouldn't believe him. He may be their commander but the things he would tell them would be heretical and they'd cut him down. But he couldn't just continue on this journey of lies. The humans may have killed many of his brethren but in the end the Covenant had brought it on themselves by trusting the Prophets. They were all fools.

As if sensing his dilemma the Monitor spoke up, "Is something distressing you?"

"_No," _Roh lied. _"I shall get you your Reclaimer, wait here Oracle." _

"Oracle?" Guardian's Approach started but Roh caught no more of its ramblings as he exited the small, purple illuminated cave.

Outside the cave Roh was met with the sight of his team. Behind them were a few other units that had been sent to ensure the sites security and an expanse of supplies were positioned around their camp. Hovering above the air were a few Phantoms that had recently dropped off some new supplies and to the left of them was the smooth, sleek purple structure that allowed them to communicate with the Fleet Master and other officers if needed.

"_Did you discover anything Field Marshal 'Rithinee?"_ His oldest Zealot -N'tho 'Amasee- asked from where he lent against the wall. His purple armor shifting as he folding his arms across his chest, a clear sign that he –like Roh- wasn't impressed with how long it was taking to access the structure.

"_I have discovered an Oracle,"_ Roh declared to his Zealots and decided to allow them to take it in before he said anymore. Their reactions were as he expected; N'tho stiffened slightly in shock but after recovering he gave a small incline of his head, Luro's mandibles twitched and his eyes narrowed into a question that asked 'are you sure?', while Vito had the least controlled reaction as his eyes widened and his mandibles sagged in surprise. The all knew what finding an Oracle meant and they'd never imagined they would ever find one.

"_It told me that we need a Human to enter its domain,"_ Roh watched as looks of disgust formed on all of their faces.

"_Why must we have one of those Heretics to gain access to the shrine of the Gods?" _ Luro spat, disgust lacing his words.

"_Do you doubt the Oracle?"_ Roh asked and Luro visibly flinched. _"I thought not." _

"_What should we do?" _Vito asked.

"_Tell all active field officers to bring any Human back to base, alive. Demons included." _

"_It will be done Field Marshal 'Rithinee," _the three Zealots said in unison before inclining their heads slightly and began walking towards their communications tower.

Roh waited a while before he went to see if anyone had encountered a Human. He'd spent his time mulling over everything he'd learnt. His mind had gone round and round in circles as it had churned up a whirlwind of emotions as everything he'd been taught clashed with this new revelation. Anger and confusion were at the center of the storm but there was nobody who he could trust to talk him through it. The only one who might have listened was dead and his other brother was too much of a believer to be of any help. His Zealots were also too blinded by their religious campaign to even consider telling.

Thinking about it only made Roh more frustrated and it got him nowhere so instead of making his mind more chaotic than it already was Roh went to see if they had a Human.

"_Has anyone found a Human, Vito?" _He asked the young Zealot who currently had his hand on one of the green holographic buttons. His head was tilted to the slide at a small angle while his other hand was on the next terminal along and tapping away at multiple buttons. Above the second terminal a holographic display was constantly moving until it locked onto something and began zooming in.

Roh's eyes scanned over the image and flicked his eyes to the corner of the screen where he read the co-ordinates of the place that was currently displayed. It wasn't far away, a Phantom should've been able to get there within moments and back just as quickly. He looked back over the map generator and took in the purple representation of the location. It seemed familiar, but Roh could think why. However, he didn't need to as Vito had finished what he had been doing.

"_I apologies for keeping you waiting Field Marshal,"_ he said, turning to face Roh. _"I have managed to locate a Human -a Demon in fact- that is still very much alive. It has been causing numerous problems for Field Marshal 'Amasee. He was about to engage it when I contacted him. I have given one of the Phantoms his location." _

"_He is aware I want it alive then?"_ Roh checked, now knowing why the place seemed familiar. For the past hour he'd been directing a few of his own forces to deal with the Demon. The fact it was still alive didn't surprise him, he knew how deadly they could be and only hopped that Field Marshal 'Amasee exercised caution when capturing it.

Vito nodded, _"He does and if he loses more men trying to subdue her then kill her, he hopes you know what you're doing." _

Roh didn't answer. Instead he gave Vito a small nod, turned around and made his way over to his other two Zealots, muttering to himself, _"I don't know if I do anymore." _

Behind him a single Phantom to lifted itself high into the clouded sky of the planet they had invaded. It paused for a mere second before its shimmering purple body disappeared into the distance and towards the Demon it intended to transport.

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Thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a review, favorite or follow.

See you all next time.


	3. Seven Devils

So here's the next chapter and well I guess things are gonna get a bit more interesting. I'm taking a few liberties with some things, which you'll see below. They're not major, but I just thought I'd forewarn you :)

Thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows. I'm glad you're all enjoying it :D

**MarshalAlexandraAnderson: **Thank you and here you go :)

**Mr Review: **He might stay, it really depends on Six. I mean she hates them with a passion ;)

**ILikedabubbles: **Don't worry, the chapters will be longer, the first two were just to introduce some of the characters :)

**Telron: **Glad you think so :) Things are only going to get more interesting.

**Guest:** Yeah, it was quite fun writing Roh's POV even though it was a bit of difficult. I'm glad you found it good :)

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**Waning: **There is violence in this chapter, much worse than before.

"Speech"

_"Sangheili"_

_Thoughts or words that are stressed upon. _

Seven Devils

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**Noble Six, Reach**

Six didn't know how much time had passed since she'd started fighting. She felt herself tiring, but she refused to give in. Bodies of Elites were stern across the dull and dusky ground. All of them had different wounds; bullet holes, plasma burns, knife wounds and even a few were dismembered. Their blood pooled on the floor and even coated parts of her armor. She almost revealed in it, her destruction was unrivaled on the battlefield.

Even Insurrectionists had come to fear her as she never left any of them alive. After all why should she? They hadn't extended the same courtesy to her father. They'd capture and tortured him, all because he was UNSC personnel. She'd never forget the day she'd found what was left of him when she'd been out enjoying the forests of Charybdis Nine. His body had been a message to the UNSC and all those that stood with them. The incident had been one of the reasons she fought as hard as she did, but now? She did it because she was ordered to and because she _enjoyed _it. The feeling of twisting her blade into another and watching as their life left them was something so amazing she could not put it into words.

Although, she never revealed it to anyone as it would cause them to question her mental stability. But, there was no doubt that her mostly now deceased team had figured she had a thing for killing the enemy.

"Noble Six, I am detecting numerous contacts closing in on our position," DOT spoke through her helmets speakers in her usual emotionless voice. Six still wasn't completely sure how she'd managed to get a hold of the AI.

She vaguely remembered stumbling into a small communications outpost that had contained minimal supplies that she'd grabbed.

She remembered getting ready to move on when DOT had appeared on one of the monitors and spoken to her for the first time. Sure the AI had spoken to the Noble team but she'd never addressed Six herself, something that amused the Spartan. She'd then managed to find an empty data crystal chip, a fact which had surprised her as all the crystals should have been destroyed. Although, as she'd taken in the trashed area of the outpost, the dead bodies and blood splattered walls, perhaps they hadn't had time. Her discovery ended up with her slotting the AI into the back of her standard Mjolnir mark five-dash-bee helmet, which was outfitted with the UA Attachment.

While Six was one of the rare Spartan-III's to have a neural implant at the base of her skull, she'd never been issued an AI. Even when she was given the chance to handle an AI chip, she only allowed them to occupy the neural interface for as little time as possible.

"Acknowledged," Six muttered as she discarded her empty plasma rife and unholstered her assault rifle. Just as she did, the silhouette of an Elite appeared in the dust that still encase the battlefield around her. The single Elite was soon followed by more and by then Six had already begun to engage them. She took down the first one without a problem, her bullets swiftly took down its shields and it managed to get a few hits in before she finished it off.

Six shrugged off the hits and began dodging around the others. As she continued to battle her shields took more and more hits. The sounds of DOT telling her to find some cover were blocked out as every muscle in her body fought through the fatigue that was trying to claim it; she didn't want to give into it, she wouldn't give into it.

More fire hit her and her shield broke. The first few burning shots hit her body and hands and she dropped her weapon. Another two others hit her helmet cracking the visor and forcing her to pull it off. When she did, the noises that had been DOT's voice faded away as she dropped it to the side.

Six scooped up her weapon and as she stepped to the side she began to calmly shoot down the Ultra that had been shooting at her. When the Ultra hit the floor she sensed something behind her and instinctively elbowed an Elite General across the face, knocking it to the ground. Its sword fell from its grasp and she gave it no time to grab it or recover from her blow as she pulled out her pistol and shot it in the head.

Breathing in deeply and attempting to ignore the pain Six only got hit in the stomach by more plasma fire. The hot substance burned at her skin and the pain of it almost caused her to sag to the floor, but she held strong. She unleashed a torrent of bullets at the Elite that just shot her in retaliation. Another one appeared in the corner of her vision and as she continued to fire from the hip at one, she shot the other with her pistol. Both Elites soon fell, but Six was given little time to recover as a hard force knocked her to the ground, sending her weapons flying from her hands. She caught the barking of another Elite as the Ultra pounced at her with its energy dagger raised.

Kicking out at the Ultra with as much force as she could muster, Six sent the white Elite stumbling away. After hearing footfalls of another Elite to her right she turned and managed to knock it's sword from its hand.

More barking could be heard in the background only it's more furious this time.

The Elite she disarmed recoiled while the Ultra came back at her with its energy dagger. Six rolled out the way and elbowed the Ultra in the jaw with one arm, while she reached round for her knife with the other. Straight after elbowing the Ultra she turned to stab it in the side of the face and was greeted by a gurgle as the blade tore through the alien's skin.

She then turned back to the Zealot she'd previously disarmed and saw it coming at her with its energy dagger. Six attempted to roll to the side to avoid the dagger, but found she couldn't when the wind was suddenly knocked out of her. The pain from her wounds intensified as something hard pressed down on her chest. Looking up she saw a Field Marshal and a scowl formed on her face as it barked at the Zealot and looked back at her.

In a last ditch attempt to be defiant of her death Noble Six brought her knife around at the Elites leg but her attack was knocked away and more pressure was applied to her stomach. A small hiss of pain escaped her along with all feeling as the Elite 'smiled' down at her before punching her in the face with its free hand. Blotches of black appeared all over her vision and before long blackness is all she could see as she dropped into unconsciousness.

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**Jaor 'Amasee, Reach**

Jaor looked over the Demon he'd been told to keep alive. It was a miracle from the Gods themselves that his squad hadn't killed her in their attempts to 'subdue' her. He'd called out to them on numerous times when it had appeared they would kill her. But each time she'd managed to dodge out the way and continue fighting, despite being mortally wounded. Jaor wasn't completely sure why Field Marshal 'Rithinee wanted this Human, but he had a feeling he would soon find out as he threw the Demon over his shoulders.

"_Pick up its helmet!"_ He growled his fool of a Zealot who'd almost killed her. The Zealot grunted back before sauntering over to pick up the damaged helmet.

Jaor turned his attention to the sky as the sound of a Phantoms engine caught his attention and soon after the streamlined purple vessel flew into view and stopped over them. He waited for the gravity lift to appear and when it did he stepped into the green light, which floated him up, into the belly of the Phantom.

The inside of the Phantom itself was empty, bar the pilot and two Spec-Ops Sangheili. Both of them stood either side of the pilot and remained hidden in the darkness. Jaor dumped the Demon on the floor and called to the pilot to take off. A grunt of confirmation was thrown back at him and turned around to see the only survivor of his squad; Lak 'Valisee.

"_Why did you ignore my orders?" _Jaor growled, _"I specifically told you we needed the Demon alive!"_

"_Why must we keep the Demon alive? What is so important about this one? There are always more of them out there, defiling the artefacts of the Gods."_ Lak responded, tossing the Demons helmet next to its prone form.

"_We shall find out when we reach Field Marshal 'Rithinee,"_ Jaor said. _"Now go get the binder for the Demon."_

"_Of course Field Marshal 'Amasee,"_ Lak assured, his voice holding a small hint of mockery that Jaor decided he would deal with later. Leaning up against the wall opposite the Demon Jaor studied its blood splattered face.

It lacked the usual softness he'd seen on most of the Humans that did not fight them, but it still held youth. To the side of one of her closed eyes a large, dark purple mark was fading into view. Something that had probably been caused by his swift punch to her face, the knowledge caused Jaor to smirk for a moment before his eyes moved on. An angry pink line appeared to have been carved onto her face, running from the right side of her jaw and up, over her eye and into the short mess of blood matted hair. It tugged tightly at some of the pale skin around it and where it curved in at her mouth it seemed to pull her lips into a constant sneer.

It was at that moment that Lak returned with the binder. Jaor watched as the Zealot pulled the Demons armored hands together and place the binder between its hands before activating them. In an instant rock hard blue plasma encircled her wrists and Lak let her drop back to the floor with a thud.

"_Satisfied, Field Marshal?"_ Lak growled to him.

"_Very, Zealot."_ Jaor gave a calm reply that was accompanied by a small taunting lift of his head, a challenge to the Zealot if he ever saw one. Lak exhaled another growl before strolling around to the other side of the Phantom. Amused by his Zealots reaction Jaor released a small throaty chuckle that soon faded into silence that stayed with him for the remainder of the short journey.

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**Roh 'Rithinee, Reach**

Roh stood with his three Zealots as they waited for the Phantom to return. All of them were decked out in their usual weapons: Vito with his simple, but effective, Needle Rifle, Luro with his Concussion Rifle and finally N'tho with his heavy Fuel Rod Gun. Everyone –including Roh- carried an energy sword to make them even more deadly in close combat.

Roh liked to believe that his team was prepared for every eventuality, but there had been teams just like his that had easy fallen to the Demons. Curling his hand into a fist Roh thought of his brother and while he may be angry towards the Demon that killed him, he was equally angry at the Prophets who may as well of killed them all.

A deep hum brought Roh out of his thoughts as he looked up at the sky to see the Phantom return. Soon after appearing it came to a stop above the ground and two figures descended via the green lift. One of them he recognised right away as the Field Marshal. The distinct protrusions on top of the deep purple helmet were what gave it away, along with how he barked commands at the Zealot behind him. Roh also noticed that the Demon was slung over his shoulder; its hands were bound together with the distinctive blue light that was used throughout the Covenant.

Waiting at his position for the Field Marshal to make his way over Roh stole a glance back to the cave. He hadn't returned since he'd last left and although not much time had passed, it felt like it had been much longer. Roh had also refused to think about what the Oracle had told him, now wasn't the time and while he couldn't just stand by and allow the Prophets use his people, getting himself killed for Heresy wasn't on his agenda either.

"_Field Marshal 'Rithinee?"_ A deep voice called as the Field Marshal that had just arrived, reached them.

Roh turned to greet the newcomers, _"That is me. I trust our Demon is still alive?"_ Roh eyed the black and red armored figure that was slung over his shoulder, along with the helmet his Zealot was holding. Two cracks were visible on the visor and it made Roh wonder how wounded the Demon was.

"_Your Demon is alive, she is merely unconscious,"_ He growled back, insulted that Roh would think him incapable of capturing a Demon. The Field Marshal's attitude would've surprised Roh had he not decided to look up Jaor's service record.

The record itself had been average in length and while Jaor had a few notable achievements to his name there was always one flaw mentioned; his arrogance. A trait that didn't bode well in Sangheili culture was always dragging down Jaor's record. It appeared to get many of those under his command killed and as he noticed the Demon slung over his solider and its lack of extra bindings, Roh wondered if Jaor's arrogance would kill them all today. After all, any credible Sangheili knew how dangerous and heavy a Demon was.

"_We shall see,"_ Roh murmured. _"Bring her inside the cave and let us see if what the Oracle says is true."_

Roh turned, not waiting for an answer. He was anxious to get this over with as the whole discovery had been a lot of trouble; he only hoped it was worth it. As they began to cross into the dimly purple lit cave human sounding groans could be heard and they all turned they attention to the Demon who was beginning to wake up.

~/~

**Noble Six**

The first sensation to hit her was pain and, oh boy, did it hit her. Her muscles screamed in pain as did her face and, in fact, the whole of her body. The biofoam had begun to do its job but it hadn't completely finished sealing the plasma wounds that had been inflicted on her body. A groan escaped her and she inwardly cursed to herself, now whoever had her knew she was awake. However, the fact remained that she didn't know who had her but that mystery was soon solved when she heard the tale-tale growling and barking of Elites.

Six stiffened and took stock of what she knew: her hands were bound, there were multiple Elites surrounding her, her helmet was missing –she only hoped they hadn't found DOT- and the only weapon she had was Emile's kukri that she'd strapped to her leg for a reason she couldn't currently recall. The odds weren't in her favor, but she wasn't labelled hyper lethal for no reason. She didn't need any fancy weapons; all she needed were her fists and the right opportunity.

She could feel the Elite under her loosen its grip as her weight was obviously growing too much for him to bear. Six smirked internally. All she needed to do was wait for the Elite holding her to weaken enough for her to overpower him and take him out.

For the short walk that continued Six came up with a few rough plans in her head. Each one was different to the other, taking in to account different variables and if some of the actions in her original plan were stopped.

The voice that spoke next was something that Six hadn't expected and if should had to, she'd guess that it was and AI, "A Reclaimer! How wonderful, the _Librarian_ will be pleased."

Six frowned at the strange pitch the AI took on when it said 'Librarian' but made no indication that she was aware of the conversation.

The rumbling voice of an Elite spoke to the AI with a few others contributing to the conversation.

"If the Reclaimer deems is necessary then I shall allow you to enter."

More rumbling.

"Yes. Now bring the Reclaimer here."

Six felt herself moving, and as she did the Elite beneath her began feeling weaker but she had little time to think more of the matter as she was stood upright in front of a huge shiny metal door. As soon as she managed to regain her composure three orange beams shot out and hit her body. Where she expected pain Six was only greeted by a small tingling sensation that disappeared quickly and a loud rumble echoed through the cave. The walls shook with the rumble and she knew that it would distract the Elites, if only for a second.

Taking advantage of the situation Six quickly unsheathed the kukri and turned on the Elite that was behind her. The Elite had no time to react and was soon dispatched of as the kukri was embedded in through its eye. Her lips tugged into a smirk and she wrenched the knife out of the beasts head before charging at the next one, which was holding her helmet. In the spit second it too her to charge at the Elite it pulled out its energy sword and was about to swipe at her when she ducked low, kicked out its legs with one of her own and pounced on it.

Its head rocked back and revealed the vulnerable gab between the armor, which she managed to exploit by slashing across its neck. As its blood splashed back at her, Six mentally crossed off a second Elite from her assumed list of six.

Quickly sheathing the kukri, Six scooped up and activated the energy sword before turning around and jumping back onto her feet just in time to block an attack from one of the others. With both hands occupied with holding the energy sword in an awkward manor Six pushed forwards with all the strength she had in both arms.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement and with a big push to the side she managed to sweep to the Elites sword away from her long enough to kick it back and send it flying through the now open door and into another Elite.

Six quickly stepped backwards to keep the two Elites that had attempted to flank her, in front of her. They all stood facing each other for a split second before the Elite on the right lunged at her with his energy sword. Stepping to the side, Six caught the Elites blade between her own and tilted hers to the side. But before she could disarm her opponent the other Elite swung down at her and she was forced to back off.

As she backed off she took a chance and managed to place a well-aimed round house kick to the Elites back. The Elite went stumbling to her right and within a few seconds Six had charged forward to stab it in the gut. Her attack hit and the Elite crumpled to the floor in a heap, not completely dead but not currently a threat.

The other Elite roared and charged at her with a flurry of attacks that she just managed to keep up with. It's skill with the blade would've the only thing to make it difficult, but with her speed and battle instincts she managed to keep up. It lunged to her left and she parried it right back before launching her own attack as she tried to keep on the offensive. She knew she would have to dispatch him soon as there were still two left and so Six created an opportunity for her to finish him off.

The Elite brought his weapon around for another attack and Six brought her own around to once again capture it between the two prongs of her blade. As soon as her opponent's weapon was caught in her own she twisted her violently to the side and forced him to let go.

In a split second she shook his sword away from hers.

In another split second she swiped her energy sword across his neck, tearing through the flesh and burning through any armor or shield that would've offered up any resistance. The beasts head lolled back and a small amount of blood managed to spray back at her before she swiftly kicked him to the floor.

Coughing to her side caught her attention and without any hesitation she stabbed the Elite she'd already downed, right through the back. The coughing ceased and as she pulled her blade away he fell to the floor with a thud.

Harsh, long breaths escaped Six. She was still too tired to continue to fight like this, there had to be somewhere she could go. Something around her gut tingled with the distinct feeling of pain and Six looked down to find blotches of red blood oozing from her bodysuit. The wound wasn't deep and it wouldn't slow her down much, but that only meant something if she could escape. And as if some form of God was listening, an escape route more or less offered itself up.

"Oh my, Reclaimer! We must leave this outpost now if you are to survive!" The AI from before exclaimed.

"Lead on," She murmured in reply as a glowing blue orb floated into view. Although, she didn't trust it quite yet, it appeared to have the only ride off the planet. What happened after it helped her escape would depend entirely on what it wanted.

"Of course. However, our route is compromised by two more of the creatures you just defeated."

"I'll deal with them, could you take that with you?" Six inclined her head towards the helmet –and DOT- which lay on the floor next to one of the first Elites she'd downed.

"I will," The orb answered. A blue light appeared from his eye and surrounded her helmet, which was then lifted off the ground and disappeared after the orb as he left the room. The orb zoomed past the two Elites who'd recovered and noticing that the orb had her helmet their heads snapped in her direction.

What happened next surprised Six because only one of the Elites charged at her, while the other yelled something at it. The Elite charging at her ignored what the other had said and continued to run at her, its blade out and looking menacing as it did. Six could see that the Elite was distracted by its rage, as the Elites usually got when one of their own was downed. Deciding to see how much she could push it she sent it a smirk, which only grew when the beast let out a roar and sped up.

They both met with their blades and Six again threw herself into another duel. But, as the Elite continued to throw attacks at her, she began to notice how sloppy and easy they became to block.

Until one took her by surprise.

She'd just brushed aside another attack when suddenly his sword was at her again. It was only thanks to her astoundingly quick reactions that it didn't do more damage than skimming her armor. The slip up annoyed her, and Six decided to make up for it by taking her opponent out there and then.

As he was still recoiling from his latest attack she kicked out with her foot and landed her heavily armored foot in the center of his chest. The force of the kick appeared to wind the Elite for a second before she swung down with her energy sword. Slicing through the Elite's thick flesh and burning through its armor until the sword would go no further. The Elite let out a pain filled whine as its grip slackened and its weapon clattered to the floor.

In the background she heard the footfalls of the other Elite along with its frustrated chattering that told her that it regretted not jumping in earlier.

Wrenching the sword from her fallen opponents body she lifted it up to prepare for another fight when suddenly, the blade of the sword flicked out of existence leaving nothing but the handle cradled awkwardly in her cuffed hands. Six mentally grimaced to herself and knew there was no time to pick up another as the Elite arrived in front of her, sword ready.

Six knew she didn't have the energy or the maneuverability to take down the Elite, especially in hand to sword combat. Acting as quickly as she could Six knocked his hand out the way before he had the chance to attack. Jumping over him, she pushed away his hand before dashing out of the entrance and further into the metal structure.

~/~

**Roh 'Rithinee**

Roh was shoved away by the Demon with such force that he stumbled over one of the bodies of his Zealots. As he took in the carnage of the cave, Roh could barely believe what had happened in a matter of a few moments. One minute the Demon was slumped over Jaor's shoulder and the next she'd knocked him over by kicking Vito into him, killed Luro, N'tho, Jaor and Lak with such brutality that even a Jiralhanae would be put to shame; had she not managed to add her own form of fluidity into it. Seeing his comrades and long-time partners slaughtered in front of him Vito had become enraged and while he'd put up a good fight against the Demon, his broken and bloodied body said otherwise.

No sound escaped Roh. He knew he could have stopped this. He should have made sure the Demon was properly restrained and-

Roh stopped himself.

What was done was done and clearly the Forerunners wanted the Demon alive. That much was clear from the way the Oracle had offered the Demon a way out. Now, two decisions were presented before him: follow after the Demon and leave the Covenant or call for reinforcements and remain in the Covenant.

His decision should've been easy and instantaneous. But given what the Oracle had told him it only made everything more difficult. He'd been with the Covenant since the beginning -as it had formed when he was much younger- but he'd always been told to believe the word of the Oracles.

Time seemed to stretch on before him as he mulled over the implications that his decisions could have. If he chased after the Demon without contacting anyone then something might be suspected of him. However, if he stayed with the Covenant then he wouldn't be able to change anything as many would sooner label him a heretic than listen.

_That's it_, Roh thought, determination coursing through his mind. His decision was made and while he would miss the Covenant that had almost been like a strange and distant family, it was for the best. One thing Roh did hope was that his decision didn't affect his family back home on Sangheilious. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if it did.

With the knowledge that he would come back with a way to stop the madness of the prophets Roh murmured a few words of respect for his fallen brethren. Their deaths wouldn't go unpunished; he would make sure the prophets paid for _their _heresy and perhaps even the Demon would feel the end of his sword. Roh straightened up, clipped his sword back onto his leg and with one last glance back at his team he sprinted off to catch up with the Demon.

All the while he muttered curses to the prophets under his breath.

* * *

Thank you for reading, don't forget to leave a review, fav and follow :)

On another note, anyone else seen the Halo 2 cinematic trailer? So amazing :D Really looking forward to the Master Chief collection now. Why does it have to be so far away? D:


	4. High Above The Ground

Heyy all, sorry about the horrendously long update time. Uni started again, I was super busy at the end of the summer...and then Destiny came out :p

Anyway, updates are going to slow down as uni and rowing will keep me busy, but I hope you all bare with me on that.

Thank you for all the favorites, follows and reviews I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far.

**Mr Review: **Glad you like Roh, can't say if he'll stay, guess you'll just have to wait and see ;) Sorry for the long update, enjoy the chapter.

**Mars. : **Your wait is over! :D

**Guest: **Thank-you, hope you think the same of this one :)

**AK74FU2:** Thank-you and I will :)

**Telron: **Thank-you, I'm glad you like him, wasn't sure how he'd be received as writing the thought process from someone from the Covenant is pretty difficult :L

"Speech"

_"Sangheili"_

_Thoughts or words that are stressed upon._

High Above The Ground

* * *

**Noble Six**

Her breaths fell short and heavy. Her movement was a cross between a run and a jog. The fatigue was catching up with her and while she was a Spartan, there was only so much she could endure. She could feel her determination slipping and her vision narrowed until it was settled on the glowing blue orb she was following. Why? She didn't know. She only hoped that it had a way out for her so that she could live to fight for humanity another day.

Sleek, glowing walls whizzed past her as the orb led her deeper into the ground. The few doors they passed simply opened before them and she wondered how far behind the last Elite was. But, her wondering was stopped when they stopped before a huge door. This one obviously hadn't opened straight away for them.

_But why?_

"It appears this door requires a while longer to open," The orb said and after what felt like minutes of waiting the door opened to reveal a massive room. The architecture was the same as the corridor she'd been running through; blue glowing lights were embedded into the sleek silver walls and floor as well as the sharp and complex webs of straight lines that ran the length of the rooms.

The few moments Six spared to look at the architecture took her breath away. She could appreciate the beauty and the simple yet complex flare it had. The designs seemed so human, yet so alien. But her sightseeing was cut short when everything around her started shaking. Her head instantly snapped up to the orb, who gave her a quick -but cryptic- reply.

"Travelling through Slipsteam-space in unsuitable conditions is not advised."

Six frowned, _how does it plan on_…

She stopped herself short because at that moment a large expanse of the room's floor slid away and a platform rose up from deeper underground. What caught her attention wasn't the platform but what was on it.

The structure was at least fifteen meters tall, with what she guessed was the main body, being held five meters off the floor on top of thin and fragile looking stands that were of the same design of the room. There were four of the stands and all of them exited the main body at an outwards angle. The tops of the stands were chunkier than the rest and from what Six could tell, they weren't physically held in place. A sharp but streamlined body rested upon the stands and continued the same design she'd seen on everything else. It stood another ten meters tall with more a few pieces of metal fanning out at the sides and floating against its sharp spine at the back. What she'd decided to label as the cockpit was about ten meters wide at the base and steadily sloped inwards to a width of five meters at the top. At each side of the cockpit's base were a set of 'wings' that –like everything else- weren't physically attached to it and were split down the middle.

Six's eyes traveled all around what she could only guess was a ship of some sorts. A ship who's makers had evidently had a geometrical design in mind, but also ensured it held the same decoration as the structure she was currently in. Many questions filtered through her mind, ranging from 'who were these people?' to 'how did we miss this?'

She was about to ask the orb something when a soft blue light reached down from the center of the silver ship and the orb called out to her.

"We must leave this place now Reclaimer," it called. "This way!"

Her eyes narrowed as she watched the orb float up the light with her helmet in tow. A frustrated sigh escaped her while she curled her hands into a tight ball and dashed after it.

The inside of the ship was softly illuminated by blue lights that lined the walls. At the front, in front of a large window, a blue holographic interface flickered into existence over a blue glowing block of silver metal. The interface had a simple circular image surrounded by many other blue straight lined shaped buttons. A single small red button was positioned off to the left and at a right-angle to the whole of the interface were multiple square screens. All of them contained different images that Six had a feeling were to do with the status of the ship.

The sound of her boots hitting the metal floor echoed around her as she walked closer to the control panel. The orb was already there, placing her helmet in a small beam of light that allowed it to hover in mid-air. As the helmet was held suspended in air, Six's thoughts briefly flickered to the AI that she hoped was still there. But before Six could contemplate on DOT's status the orb spoke to her.

"Welcome to the Forerunner planet escape shuttle _Liberator_," it said, whizzing over the control panel. "Press the center button to prepare for launch."

Despite the doubts she held Six pressed the button and braced herself for the worst. But, as her fingers left the tangible button nothing happened. No explosions, no one jumped out with a gun in hand and tried to kill her. The only thing that did happen was the small shudder that reverberated throughout the ship and ended with sensation that they were hovering above the floor. A quick glance out of the window confirmed Six's suspicion before she turned her attention to the orb.

_Time to get some answers._

"What are your intentions?" She growled, keeping the question as vague as possible in hopes she'd yield more information.

"My intentions?" The orb repeated. "Why to help the inheritors of my creator's legacy, of course. I was also given the objective of getting a Reclaimer to the _Librarian_ on Requiem."

Six noticed a sharp change in pitch when the orb mentioned Librarian and frowned at the action. But, gathering information took priority at the moment so she pressed on.

"Who is the Librarian?"

"The Librarian is the leader of the life workers of the Forerunner ecumene." There was no change in pitch this time and it left Six wondering whether or not her fatigue was getting to her and causing her to hear things.

"What does she intend to do with me?"

The orb appeared to sadden slightly, "I'm afraid I was not given that information. All I know is that it is very important."

Six frowned at the orb. Something was wrong here, she could feel it. It was niggling at the back of her mind and whenever she tried to focus on it, it would simple slip through her fingers. However, she wasn't done questioning the orb.

This time she decided to take a different approach, "What is this facility?"

"Outpost zero-seven was originally built for transportation to in-system planets, but was later turned into a means to evacuate the planet to the nearest shield world. Because of this the structure had to be heavily reinforced and redesigned in order to withstand opening Slip-space portals. The majority of these Outposts were destroyed in order to prevent the Flood from gaining access to the shield worlds."

Six processed all the information she was being told and some of it opened up more questions than answers. Subjects such as the 'Flood' made her wonder why an obviously highly advanced race was scared of water. _Unless, it's a label for something much worse. _Something that had these 'Forerunners' worried enough that they would destroy entire facilities to stop it.

Her short trail of thought was stopped when the orb yelled something out to her.

"Reclaimer, numerous life-signals have been detected entering my Outpost. The self-destruct program is available for activation if you do not wish for them to follow. To activate it, press the yellow button on the far right."

Without hesitation Six quickly reached out and pressed the button. As soon as she did, the screen above that section changed to three symbols in a line. The symbols began to rapidly change, confirming that it was a countdown, but for how long Six had no idea.

A noise at the back caught her attention and Six snapped around to see if anything was there. Her eyes were met with nothing except the closing of the hole she'd come in. As soon as the hole hissed shut relief washed over her.

She'd made it.

But, she was alone. The thought hit her as she slumped against the wall. She dug her hand into the satchel on her leg and pulled out four dog tags; Jorge's, Thom's, Kat's and Emile's. She knew that Thom was the one she'd replaced, the one that some members of the team blamed themselves too much for his death. Curling her hand into a fist around the tags Six felt a strange feeling envelope her. It was something she hadn't felt in a long time. Loss.

It was a small niggling sensation at the back of her head; almost non-existent. It hadn't always been like that, but everything had been so different back then. The last time she'd felt the full force of the emotion was when she'd lost her parents all those years ago. She'd lost one to each enemy of the UNSC; Insurrectionists and The Covenant. Like many other children she'd been promised the chance to gain vengeance and oh boy had she. Since being pulled out of Beta Company she'd eradicated as many militia groups as she could and then she'd gone on to eliminate as many Covenant as she could. But, there'd been the time she'd spent in a team.

She'd spent over a month in Noble team and despite her efforts to remain emotionally distant from her team, it had been inevitable that they'd become close. She couldn't remember how it'd happened, but she supposed that working in close proximity with them had just led to it happening. She was sad that they were gone. Although, she probably wasn't as sad as a civilian would be. But, that was because she was a solider and they'd been soldiers. Back when she'd lost her parents she'd reacted much differently; sadness had overtaken her at first before changing into rage. But the rage she'd built up back then was something that she'd honed over the years in order to be the best killer she could be.

"Your current combat skin is damaged," the orb piped up. "The ship's logs state that there is a single combat skin left in the storage compartment at the back of the transport."

Six only graced the orb with a nod before making her way over to the back of the ship. She noticed straight away the compartment the orb had been talking about, after all there was half a blue sphere poking out from the wall right next to the doors. Placing a hand on the orb Six wondered what this combat skin looked like. Then, as the door hissed open Six got her first look at Forerunner combat skin but it was safe to say that she was unimpressed.

The advanced looking armor was scorched in multiple places, with burn holes piercing through one arm and the legs. What she guessed had been a silver colour was now a tainted and tarnished dark grey. A frown creased onto her face and Six pulled the armor set out of the storage compartment. But, just as she was about press the button again something on the floor caught her eye. It was relatively small and appeared have a less elaborate design of the ship she was currently in. With the combat skin weighing down her one arm Six placed its helmet on the floor and scooped up the small object.

It was heavier than she had anticipated and just smaller than her hand. Down the front she could feel convex groves that felt like they formed different symbols. Figuring she'd investigate it more later, Six clipped it to the magnetic strip on her thigh and scooped up the helmet before returning to the orb.

"It appears that the combat skin is severely damaged," it said, turning in her direction. "A shame as a class eleven combat skin would offer much more protection than you current class two."

Six raised an eyebrow in mild confusion. Was it comparing her armor to the almost completely battered piece she was holding? If the piece she was holding was so good she wondered what kind of weapon could have done so much damage. Her mouth twitched at the thought. Weapons like that could win the UNSC the war. It was then that Six decided that when –not if- she returned from Requiem she would find a way to bring all its treasure home and help the UNSC beat the Covenant. Another thought then hit her and wondering if it would work, Six asked the orb.

"Would it be possible to incorporate this 'combat skin' into my current one?"

The orb didn't say anything for a few moments as it mulled over her question. When it finished it whizzed around her as it spoke, "It should be possible, given the right amount of time and resources."

Six nodded, "Time to leave?

"Of course, while you were acquiring the combat skin I took the liberty of imputing the co-ordinates to the slipstream-space portal that we would be using. All you need to do Reclaimer is press the green button to the left."

Before blinding stumbling forward and pressing the button Six stopped to think for a moment, well aware that the symbols on the countdown were being to whittle down to the last few. She wanted to go to this Requiem place, but not for the reasons the orb had said, instead she wanted the tech to help humanity prevail. However, she was sure that the orb wouldn't take that lying down, but that didn't mean she was going to mindlessly go through with its plan. But before she could even being to decide on what to do something knocked her out the way and took over the control panel.

Six cursed to herself as she looked up to see the Elite from earlier ripple into existence and try to use the control panel. Apparently he wasn't getting anywhere as he soon hammered down a fist on the interface. But immediately after he did he glanced at her, and what Six guessed was the Elite version of a grin curled onto his face. He lunged for her and she just about managed to dodge, all the while the orb was yelling at the alien to stop interfering or it would be eliminated.

Not wanting to give the Elite an opening to catch her, Six's eyes locked onto the Elite seconds before it disappeared into nothing. Six listened carefully and darted her eyes around the room in order to find any sign of where the Elite was.

There was a split second between her noticing the Elite and it tackling her. She'd attempted to again dodge out of the way and deliver a hard blow to the back of its head, but evidently her plan had been halted before it could begin. It pushed her towards the control panel with the force of its tackle and using her still cuffed hands to its advantage it started trying to use her to change something.

"Y…ou mu-st no-t-," it growled to her in broken English.

Paying little interest to its words Six resisted against whatever buttons it wanted to press and tugged the Elite with all her strength. The motion brought the Elite along her side and crashing into the control panel. With the Elite still recoiling, Six managed to sweep out its legs but as she did so she unintentionally altered the set path. Unaware of her mistake, Six slammed her hand on the green button.

There was a silent hum, but before it could register the small ship shot forwards and into the dark portal that had appeared before it. Just as they entered the portal the outpost behind them began to explode, giving the ship a quick boost as it entered the portal.

The darkness of slipspace was the only thing visible through the window. The sterile like lights where the one source of illumination in the ship, but Six had no time to stand and admire it all. After all there was an Elite dragging itself up from the floor right next to her.

Not wanting to give it a chance to attack her again, Six aimed the strongest roundhouse kick she could muster at it. But, her movement must've been sluggish from fatigue and she found her kick hitting below her mark of its head. The Elite grunted at the contact and tipped to its right before grabbing her foot as she wasn't fast enough to pull back.

Her reaction to the grab was instantaneous and watch she did next was the quickest thing she could muster. She wrenched her leg towards her, but the Elite held strong and she was pulled towards it. This however did not affect plan as she then slammed her foot down –forcing the Elite to let go- and at the same time she delivered a swift uppercut with both tied hands. As the Elite was sent stumbling backwards, Six dragged in a breath of oxygen and reached down for Emile's kuriki and began bringing it down one the alien in front of her.

Instead of stabbing it through the neck as she intended, the Elite managed to grab her hands and twist them so that she dropped the weapon. Her body was then forced to bend backwards at an awkward angle as the Elite kicked out the back of her legs, which caused her to crash towards the floor as the Elite twisted her back round so that she landed on her back.

With the breath knock out of her Six attempted to roll out the way, but she was too slow as the Elite's giant foot came crashing down on her chest; crushing into her wounds and sending her nerves haywire. A pain filled moan escaped her as she felt the biofoam over her wounds crack, and the warm sensation of blood seep out of them. Her vision began to go blurry and as she tried to think of a way to get out of the situation her thoughts went to the strange device she'd strapped to her leg; perhaps it could do something to help her.

As the pressure on her chest increased, her vision became more blurry and her hands fumbled more frantically as they tried to reach her leg. Just as the Elite noticed what she was reaching for, Six managed to press the buttons and as she did the ship shuddered and out of the corner of her eye she noticed a blue glow. The motion of the ship destabilised the Elite and allowed her to roll out from under it. Then she swept out its legs so their positions were essentially reversed.

As she dropped her weight onto the Elite another rockier shudder –as if entering atmosphere - rippled through the ship, but Six held steady. Pinning its arms under her legs, Six lent forwards and applied pressure to the Elites neck using her forearm.

"This is for Noble, Hinge-Head," She snarled, increasing the pressure. And evil, sadistic grin made its way onto her face as she put her arm down more and the Elite began crawling at her hands even more. Its attempts at breathing increased and eventually descended into choking.

Suddenly, the orb yelled something that Six didn't quite hear and the temperature inside the ship began to increase and Six could hear the groan of the ship as they continued their decent through a planet's atmosphere. As she sat choking her enemy, the sound of the heat hitting the front of the ship roared behind her and everything around her shook. Suddenly, the ship pitched forwards until it was almost facing downwards and the motion dragged Six to the back along with the orb and the Elite. She looked over to the orb and saw it was holding her helmet and praying that she could still wear it she stretch out her hand.

"Give me the helmet!" She yelled above the roaring heat that was trying to bake them alive. The orb complied with her request and dropped the helmet into her hands. Six quickly shoved it on and sighed in relief as the familiar hissing sound filled her ears.

Her relief didn't last long as the ship then abruptly smashed into something solid and the motion threw Six and the Elite to the front of the ship. Blinding light hit her eyes and was the last thing she saw before she hit the glass everything went black.

/#537- Guardian's Approach. Accessing…

/ATTENTION!/

/Collision Imminent!/

/Reclamier Status: Poor

/Reclamier In Need Of Immediate Medical Assistance

/Wirelessly Hacking Into Local Networks/

/Networks found. Filtering/

/Potential Network Found/

/Designation: NEST/

/Collision Vector Changed/

~/~

**NEST, Diego Garcia **

A large shudder ripped through the NEST base of Diego Garcia. The occupants of the base weren't as surprised as they should be. After all, they'd been tracking the cause of the quake since it hit Earth's atmosphere. Initially the whole of the base had believed that it was wave of Autobots, but they had confirmation that it was not of Cybertronian origin. The news was not something that eased the leader of NEST's mind.

William Lennox quickly made his way up the steep flight of open stairs up to a platform, which currently surrounded Optimus Prime. He strode along the top walkway before coming to a stop in front of Optimus. Behind Will, on a large screen was General Morshower whose picture would sporadically flicker from time to time. In the shadow of Optimus stood three more beings like him and a few groups of soldiers who were ready to go to the crash site.

"This is defiantly not you guys right?" Will checked. "Not even the message that was referred to General Morshower at the Pentagon?"

"I'm certain; neither of these things are of Cybertronian origin." Optimus assured.

Running his hand down the side of his face in frustration Will struggled to find his words, while in the background the General also appeared disconcerted. He however, remained silent.

"So this is a whole new…alien?" The word 'alien' felt strange on his tongue, though that was probably because he worked with them and had never imagined meeting _new_ ones.

"I would not worry, Major. No matter what events occur, we will always stand with humanity."

"Okay," Will murmured before asking, "What about the signal the General forwarded here? What did you guys get from that?"

"The message was highly encrypted, but I believe with our collective effort we have managed to gain the general meaning." Optimus paused, "It was a distress message that was requesting human aid for a 'Reclaimer' and contained a set of co-ordinates, which we cannot convert."

It was then that the General spoke up, "do you mean to say that the language this message was in could be understood?"

"That is correct General," Optimus started. "We were concerned when the message appeared to be in Earth's English. But, we have not ruled out the possibility that they have visited the World Wide Web as we did."

"That may be true, but they specifically requested _human_ aid," the General frowned. "We need to find out what these people want and why they need _our_ aid. I'll leave the rest in your capable hands Major."

"Yes, Sir."

Morshower's screen flicked off and Will turned back to Optimus, who appeared deep in thought. But, when the large being noticed Will's eyes on him he spoke.

"We should go," Optimus said. "These beings may be in serious trouble."

The phrase weighed heavily on everyone's mind as they all wondered if the cause of the crash was in pursuit. But, it was with that thought that everyone loaded up all they needed and left the base as quickly as possible.

* * *

Thanks for reading, don't forget to review, favorite and follow.

If you have any questions, improvements or I got something wrong just let me know :)


	5. This Is Not Your Home

Heyy all, sorry it took a while, I wasn't happy with this chapter -still not- but I couldn't think of what to change so I eventually just figured that you guys will pick up on something if you think it needs changing :)

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Thankyou so much for all the reviews, favs and follows :D

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_Thoughts or words stressed upon_

**_Thoughts that are stressed upon_**

"Talking"

This Is Not Your Home

* * *

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**Six, Approx. Fifteen Minutes After The Crash**

Six's entire body felt numb and her head was throbbing. She just managed to crack open her eyes and was once again hit by light that was filtered through her helmet. She glanced down at her hands and managed to make out that they were no longer bound together; at least something had gone her way.

Groaning, Six rolled over and discovered that she was lying on soft sand. Scattered around her were shards that bared little resemblance to shattered glass. The pieces were much bigger and appeared more metal in composition. No wonder she felt like she had bruises all over.

With everything still foggy and her limbs so sluggish it brought her shame, Six eventually managed to drag herself up and prop herself against the husk of the ship. As she sat there she thought; the pain of her wounds beginning to get to her. She wondered if this was the end. If after everything she was finally going to meet her end. She didn't regret anything; she had _nothing_ to regret. No loved ones, no team and no friends were waiting for her to return home. They'd all been swallowed up in the war and for as long as she could remember she'd been alone. Apart from the only two days of her life she remembered before becoming a Spartan; the death of her Father by insurrectionist hands and the death of her Mother by the Covenant.

Nausea suddenly rolled through her, but she was not sick.

The pain began to grow, but she did not cry out.

Instead, her eyes darted around the dry landscape that was occupied by few things. Perhaps this was the placed named Requiem? That had been there intended destination. However, as she took a closer look the things she could see seemed familiar, but she could not place them. Her mind was much too clouded for that.

Six chuckled quietly to herself for no particular reason and sometime afterwards a floating orb appeared above the rolling horizon. It was the strange AI. The orb glided close to her and when it reached her it came to a stop in front of her.

"Your adversary still remains unconscious," the orb began. "Help shall arrive to attend to your wounds soon."

A familiar sound in the distance caused Six to frown, and noticing it the orb spoke to her, "The help I requested. They are primarily human as we have landed on Erde-Tyrere instead of Requiem."

There were many bits of information that stood out to Six in what the orb had just said and some of it didn't sound too good.

The orb made it sound as if the help was not just human, but also alien in origin, which was something she knew could not be possible. All the aliens that they'd come across wanted to kill them and she highly doubted they would even work with innies.

Then there was the fact that they were on a Human planet despite the fact she didn't recognise the name; a fact which she frowned at. There was something off about it and as she looked out over the horizon she noticed it; there was hardly anything there. Most cities usually had high reaching skyscrapers and even places like where she was currently would be occupied by something, be it farmland, parks or housing. But, this appeared to be neither. The colour blue was the only thing she could see apart from the burnt sand that surrounded the surprisingly undamaged ship.

The loud sound of engines she'd heard earlier prevented her from thinking any further and she instead tried to glance around the side of the ship. Six just about managed to catch a glimpse of a few strange military vehicles that she'd never seen before, along with a few _less _militarised. They looked too old to be anything the UNSC –or anyone- still used and while she thought about it being innies, the thought was quickly dismissed. The inneis were sometimes better equipped than the UNSC led the public to believe and with the war going on, it would only make it easier for them.

Six shifted as the ground beneath her rattled slightly and the sound of very heavy footsteps could be heard. She kept her eyes on where she knew they would appear and soon enough something came into sight.

Only it wasn't what she was expecting.

It was –for lack of a better term- a giant, red and blue robot. Roaming her eyes up and down the giant being she knew that if it decided it wanted to kill her, she wouldn't have much of a chance in her current state. Although there was still a chance she could defeat it, but that depended on how many others there were; perhaps she could outrun it?

The robot seemed to notice her as its gaze dropped and it gave her a look of kindness and sympathy. She wasn't fooled.

Six returned the look with a cold stare before looking at the orb, who looked very interested in the robot. So interested that it floated over to it, maybe she could use it as a distraction to get away? She wasn't usually one to run away from a battle. But, she wasn't a fool when it came to engaging the enemy either.

With her decision made Six began dragging herself onto her feet. She then turned on her active camouflage, which led to a warning message -about the use time on it being halved- appearing. A minute or so would be enough time to put distance between her and the robot, or so she hoped. Turning, Six began to limp away at a fast pace as her leg had been damaged in the crash.

As she left she heard human yelling and glanced back to see human soldiers appear next to the robot and talk to it. The orb was still hovering in the air next to the robot's head before it decided to investigate the soldiers, who appeared a little concerned.

Six turned her attention away from them and settled on seeing if Dot was still functioning, "Dot?"

"Yes, Noble Six?" came the usual calm reply.

"Any damage?"

"No, but I am detecting that you are severely injured and that the armor's cloaking device is not working to optimal standards."

The group of vehicles appeared in her vision and Six quickly climbed into the driver's side of one of the more robust looking ones. There were two other vehicles that looked like they could take a few hits, but she doubted they'd be able to hold her weight and they looked more like civilian transport.

"I know, Dot. Can you connect to any UNSC frequencies?" Six wouldn't lose hope; someone had to be out there.

"Unfortunately I am unable to find any." Six's hope dropped into oblivion and she slumped against the seat. "However, I am detecting multiple frequencies that have little or no security by UNSC standards."

Six sighed, _where the hell am I? This is can't be a colony!_

She took a shuddering breath before asking Dot to see if she could tap into any of them and send out a distress call. Her request was answered with a yes and dumb AI went to work after mentioning that it could take some time due to her limited capabilities. Although Six wasn't completely satisfied with the answer, she would have to make do.

While Dot looked for anything that would help Six, the Spartan in question decided to think about her options when she was safe. Just as Six started the engine she saw both of the cars transform into giant robots; now she was defiantly glad she didn't jump into one of those. They started towards her, but not wanting to stay with the robots a moment longer Six started the car and swiftly maneuvered down the road. Looking in one of the side mirrors, Six saw the two robots transforming back into cars and speeding after her. She pressed down on the accelerator more and was annoyed when her pursuers didn't fall behind at all.

Then, suddenly the radio crackled to life and a grouchy, rough voice spoke, "pull over, now!"

She glanced down at the radio and debated whether or not to answer, but it was at that point that she noticed a very large military looking base coming up on her left. Six debated over what kind of base it really was and when she realised she was getting nowhere soon, she pulled into it when it came up. Six knew it was a mistake when she saw even more old looking vehicles lined up on the asphalt and the robots continued following her; as if they held no fear towards the base.

Wincing from her wounds she began to make a U-turn when one of the robots transformed and grabbed onto the front of her vehicle. With it looking more likely that she'd have to try and fight them off, she made her decision.

As quick as she could, Six jumped out of the vehicle and began running up to the black robot. Without warning a giant metal hand struck out with the intention to grab her, but she swiftly dodged it. Pain shot through her with the movement and she promptly ignored it. With adrenaline pulsating through her veins, she jumped onto the black robot that had grabbed her vehicle. As she began jumping up the robot's arm it tried to shake her off when the other one yelled at it.

"Ironhide! Do not harm her!"

The one called 'Ironhide' grumbled back, "you wouldn't be saying that if she was trying to claw your optics out."

His other arm reached around and managed to grab her bad leg before she could move it. She hissed in pain before the robot placed her on the ground and pinned her down with its hand.

"Primus, she's heavy," it grumbled. "Do you thing Doc."

"Well I would, but your hand is in my way," the other –green- robot grumbled.

"The femme will run away if I move."

"'_The femme'_ can hear you, toasters," Six snarled, pushing at the robot's hand. It wasn't the best idea as it made her chest hurt more.

The green robot looked at her, "do not strain yourself! You're in bad shape."

"Get off me!" Six snarled, pushed harder despite the pain.

"Will you run if I do?" Ironhide rumbled, its metallic face sending her a glare.

"What do you think?!"

The green robot persisted, "we need to heal-"

"No!" Six interrupted him. She pushed even harder against Ironhide's hand and kept going even with the light-headedness and dizziness that was flooding into her. Her teeth were ground together in pain, as she discovered with each push that the back of her ribs were slightly damaged and the skin bruised.

"I don't need help from a damn _alien!_"

Ironhide's hand lifted a little for just a second, but that was all Six needed. Grinning in satisfaction she rolled away from the hand and catching a deep breath she slowly started backing away. The two robots mirrored her movements by slowly taking steps towards her; the one named Ironhide appearing more irritated than the green one.

Footsteps padded around behind her and she realised that they were undoubtedly human. She read off at least a dozen contacts on her radar and then added more as a blue and red truck came speeding into the base. Six knew that the truck was one of the robots and her thoughts were confirmed when it transformed after a human and the orb materialised from inside it. Six tensed up as she curled her hands into fists and lowered herself into a fighting stance; ready to fight her way out.

When the transformation finished Six noticed that it was the red one who'd appeared so kind. She inwardly snorted at the idea of an alien being kind.

Suddenly another wave of dizziness hit her, but it was much stronger than before and Six felt herself stumble. She tried to clear her head but the dizziness wouldn't go away and the pain of her wounds only increased.

Six looked up and saw a human stood in by the robots along with the orb, which was starting to float towards her. As it did, the robots and single human looked slightly worried about something to do with her. Frowning, she glanced down only to have her eyebrows shoot up –and cause her more pain- in shock at what she saw.

Just above her hip was a huge burnt mess. It was a mix of the bubbled black of the undersuit with the pink of her flesh just appearing in a few spots where the undersuit had thinned out. The only feeling she got from the area was surprisingly just a bit of discomfort. _The nerve endings are probably burnt out, _Six thought wearily_._

"Reclaimer," the orb said. "You need medical attention, that I-"

"You requested it from an organisation that I don't even know!" Six glared at the robots and the human, turning to the side to see the other humans behind her. "Why would I trust _them?_" _Why would I trust you?_

"Noble Six," Dot's voice came through the internal speakers. "I have managed to tap into the numerous 'NEST' frequencies in the area, and all a currently consistent with their claims to heal you. I've also found that we are on Earth, but the date appears to be incorrect."

All Six heard was the word Earth; the rest didn't matter. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't comprehend it. Aliens had found Earth. Everything the UNSC had sacrificed had been for nothing. It was..._impossible._ Her whole body felt numb despite the pain she was feeling.

"Noble Six?" Dot questioned, "I believe the date is of importance."

"What's it saying Dot?" Six asked as she snapped out of her daze and turned off her external speakers. She doubted anything the AI would say could give comfort to the fact that there were aliens on Earth. Did the UNSC know about this? She had to tell someone, let someone know!

She was not ready for what the AI had to say next.

"According to what I have found the date appears to be two thousand and eight."

The words hit her with the force of a supernova. Six knew the AI wasn't wrong as they rarely were, if at all. But, it was for that reason that Six was worried. If she was indeed in the year two thousand and eight then what did that mean? How could she get back? And what about these aliens? They weren't around in the future and the Covenant was defiantly Humanity's first contact with an alien race. Did that mean she was somewhere else entirely? She recalled the device she'd found in the ship and what had happened after she'd activated it; did that have something to do with it? Had it somehow sent her to another place? After all slip-space was made up of multiple dimensions, did that somehow have any bearing on her current predicament? She'd heard of the odd case of people disappearing because of slip-space, but she couldn't recall anyone that had returned. Did that mean that she wouldn't be able to return to the fight? And did it also mean that she would never know the outcome of the war?

Six squeezed her fists tighter, knowing that she wouldn't be there, fighting to the very end. She knew that humanity wouldn't survive the Covenant, unless some miracle happened, because the Covenant was just too strong.

She'd lost more than a team today. It was a chilling thought and Six knew that now was not the time to mull over it.

Thanking the AI she turned her external speakers on and caught the tail end of something the soldier had been saying to her.

"-trust us because we want to help you." He appeared legitimately truthful and Six now knew that they were speaking the truth. She had no time to pick and choose the people she wanted to trust and only hoped that these people weren't on the wrong side of the law.

Sighing she spoke words that she hoped she would never regret, "I'll go with you." _For now._

The soldier who'd been prepared for rejection looked taken aback. He stumbled on his words before managing to speak to her, disbelief stark in his voice, "You will?"

She nodded, relaxing her stance in order to reinforce her words.

"Follow Ratchet –I'll have someone escort you- and we'll bring in the other guy from your ship."

"You would be better off killing him," Six snapped, a wooziness working it's into her, but she promptly ignored it. "He'll do the same to you, _if_ he wakes up."

He gave her a dubious look. "Why would he kill us?"

"You're Human."

"What's that got to do with it?" He started confused, "We've never-"

She started forwards aggressively, accentuating each word with a forceful step. "His. Kind. Despise. Humans. They-" she stopped a moment, her breath coming short and her vision blurring as everything became tilted.

Swallowing air she continued on, somewhat less energetic, "they hate us and won't be happy until we're wiped off the face of the universe. S…Still…"

Her legs began to give out and the tilted floor rose up to embrace her.

"Want….to…"

Her vision became more blurred and darkness crept at the edge of her vision. "Risk…?"

Six lost all feeling in her body and her warning was left incomplete. She vaguely registered her legs bucking even more and getting closer to the floor. She felt lighter than air and as darkness encompassed her vision the last thing she registered was Dot calling her.

~/~

**Will Lennox**

Concern and confusion worked their way into Will as he watched the large armored being crumple to the floor. She –he assumed it was a she because of its feminine voice- didn't move from her spot, and no one knew if she was either unconscious or playing a game with them because of the armor. Not even Ratchet could get a scan through it; he'd said that something appeared to be blocking it. Suddenly, something happened that gave everyone an answer, but also made them even more cautious.

"Noble Six is in need of immediate medical attention," a synthetic and relatively emotionless voice said. The voice came from the armor, as if there were two people inside of it. But, it seemed less human and uncaring except for a small hint of concern.

"Right," Will muttered, almost speechless. "Ratchet, you know what to do."

The green Cybertronian walked over to the armored figure and picked her up, "I'll need to be left alone." He glanced down at the figure that seemed to weigh considerably in his hands. "I'll probably need a pair of _experienced _Human hands."

"I'll have someone meet you at the Med Bay," Will confirmed. "We'll bring the other to you as soon as we can."

"I will make sure they are kept apart," Ratchet growled as he strolled off. The last thing being heard was the synthetic voice.

"In order to ensure optimal medical care is provided, specialised tools are required to remove the armor." Nothing else was heard as Ratched sped up, grumbling the whole way.

After the mech had disappeared Will radioed in for a medic to get down to Ratchet's Med Bay; of which the medic was slightly nervous about. Will knew there wasn't much he could do at the moment, as the only thing they could do was ensure that the two from the crash survived. He wasn't completely sure about the ship as the strange floating orb had told them very little.

_Speak of the devil_, Will thought as the orb came floating over to him. _Time to get some answers._

"I want some answers," He insisted as it came to a stop in front of him. "And I want them now."

"Of course Human, I shall tell you all that I can." Came the ever gleeful reply.

"Who're you?" he asked, deciding to start with a simple question.

"I am five-three-seven Guardian's Approach, Monitor of Outpost zero-seven," it said simply.

_So much for simple,_ Will sighed. He had no idea what it was taking about. Ironhide and Optimus both shifted their stances slightly as they stared at the being that had decided to call them 'hybrids'. Will wasn't sure what to do with the orb after he'd gained all the information he needed. Hell, he didn't even know what to do with the other two when they recovered.

"Should that mean something to me?" He asked.

"The Reclaimer did appear confused like you, but seeing as she blew up my outpost there is no need to explain its function anymore."

"Sounds like my kind of femme," Ironhide commented. "If she's not trying to offline me," he added not so silently.

Will raised an eye brow, "She blew it up? Just like that?"

"She was given the option to use it kill her enemies who she believed would gain knowledge from my outpost." It sounded slightly perturbed at this, "this is something that does not suit Humanity."

"Why'd _you_ say that?"

The orb –which had been floating around them- came to a stop and positioned itself in front of Will.

"Because it is us who know you the most."

The way it was said made it seemed like there would be no more talk on that subject. And given that Will had no idea what its capabilities were, he decided to change to a subject that –he hoped- was safer.

"Why did you call these guys 'hybrids'?" Will gestured at Optimus and Ironhide.

"I did not refer to them as just 'hybrids', I referred to them as Ancilla Hybrids," it corrected.

"Guardian, right? Why call them that?" Will asked again, shortening the orb's name as it was much too long to constantly repeat.

Guardian twitched slightly at the name, "they are similar to an Ancilla but there is something much more different about them." Guardian hovered in front of Optimus' chest, "something here. It is as if they are like a living organism. However, the idea is preposterous as nothing akin was ever discovered by my makers." Guardian floated away as if dismissing the idea, before it addressed Optimus.

"Who are your makers?"

Will looked up at Optimus and found that the Prime wasn't that insulted by Guardian's conviction.

"It was the All Spark that gave us life," Optimus said calmly and simply.

"This is most interesting, which part of the universe do you come from? Perhaps that is why my makes never encountered you," Guardian paused for a second. Before anyone could answer he continued, "but, that would mean your kind was never was never catalogued and you would not exist, unless you came from outside the range of the Halo Array. Even that reached beyond where we had travelled…"

"The what Array?" Will was getting more confused by the second.

Guardian didn't say anything for a second, but when it did it appeared to have had an idea.

"This is not good," Guardian sounded doubtful. "I must find the Reclaimer, she has something."

Without another word Guardian whizzed off in what they all knew was the direction of Ratchet's Med Bay. Will cast a concerned glance up to the Autobots and found that both had similar look on their faces.

"Ratchet doesn't like visitors does he?" Will asked, somewhat hopeful that the answer would be yes.

"No," Ironhide mummed. "He hates them."

"Then let us hurry," Optimus rumbled before the three of them ran all the way to Ratchets Med Bay. Will yelled out orders for everyone and as well as telling them to expect another arrival.

~/~

**Noble Six**

Six woke up for the second time that day in pain. She didn't move as she discovered that she was no longer wearing her helmet. She could hear talking, but couldn't quite make it out what was being said. Her vision was blurred and was making it difficult to see anything.

Vibrations across the surface she was lying on brought her out of her internal log. Six closed her eyes, remained very still and kept her breathing steady as if she were still unconscious. When she thought the cause of the vibrations was near her, she opened her eyes and grabbed the arm of someone who was knelt next to her.

A short yelp came from the person, which was followed by a flustered, "woah! Hold on! Hold on! You need to remain still!"

Six narrowed her eyes and focused them on the brown haired woman kneeling next to her. She eyed the catheter in the woman's gloved hand and then the uniform, which had familiar letters stitched into it. When she thought about it, information came flooding back and she relaxed a little; the woman was with 'NEST'. She would comply; for the moment.

When Six let go of the woman's hand she gave a thankful look, "the name's Catherine Jones, but everyone just calls me 'Legs'. It's 'cause I'm so tall and mostly legs, but that what makes tall people tall really. So…what about you?"

Six smirked at the nervous woman, "Six or Spartan, take your pick."

"Those aren't names," Catherine said, frowning. "You've gotta have a real one."

"Spartan-Bee-Three-One-Two," Six said seriously.

Catherine sighed, "maybe the Major will get it out of you. I'm going to need to sedate you," she held up the catheter, "so we can fix you."

Six gave the catheter a dubious look; she doubted its contents would be able to knock her out. Catherine noticed the look raised a brow at Six.

"What's wrong?"

Six lent forwards and reached for the black case on her leg. As she did so Catherine held up her gloved hands –one still holding the catheter- and attempted to push her back down with one hand. It was a futile attempt as Six was a Spartan.

"You need to lie still," she protested. "Ratchet will blow a…tailpipe? No that's not it…. gasket, that's it. I'm still getting used to the Autobot's, have you met any aliens?"

"Many." Six pulled out a small metal case.

"Really? What're they like?" She eyed the case curiously.

Six handed her the case and replied bluntly, "too busy killing them to find out."

Catherine's eyes widened as she took the case and opened it. Before she could ask what the contents was Six told her.

"Polypseudomorphine, the amber one will knock me out for a few hours, use that," Six explained, lying back down.

"Oh," Catherine murmured as she closed the case and moved away.

A few moments later she came back and tried to examine the wound on Six's abdomen. She frowned a bit and looked back at Six.

"I guess knocking you out will be easier after Ratchet gets you out of your armor. Where do you feel pain?" She asked.

"Not there," Six indicated to the right side of her abdomen where the large burn was. "But here," she pointed to the gashes on her face. "Here," she pointed to her leg. "Here," She circled her over her chest. "And here," she tried to indicate to the back of her ribs.

"Well, I'll clean up what I can," Catherine nodded before she proceeded to clean up the gashes on Six's face without a word. Six inwardly snorted at the fact that the woman was scared of her because she killed aliens; if only she knew.

Just as Catherine finished up stitching up the gashes –after applying local anaesthetic- the orb came bursting through the large door with two robots and human hot on its tail.

With two clanging thuds the one named Ratchet turned around, not looking very happy. A large wrench was clutched in his tight grip.

"I believe I mentioned that I was to be left alone," he growled.

"I'm sorry old friend, but Guardian's Approach insisted on seeing the human," Optimus rumbled sincerely.

Ratchet eyed the orb with irritation, "If he doesn't leave, there _won't_ be a human to see."

"You're overreacting," Six growled, her eyes narrowed at Ratchet.

He snorted and gave her no further attention. Instead he turned on Guardian's Approach, "whatever you want from her can wait. She's my patient."

"This does not concern you, _Hybrid,"_ Guardian snarled in a degrading tone. "The Reclaimer took something."

Six looked down to the object Guardian was talking about and sighed. Leaning forwards she pulled it off her leg –ignoring Catherine's protests- and before Ratchet could snap back a comment, she held it up to Guardian.

"This?"

If orb's could smile, Six was sure Guardian would have. A blue light then stretched from his eye piece and curled around the object.

"My thanks Reclaimer." Was all Guardian said before leaving room and everyone in it confused.

The big red robot looked down at Six and asked, "what was the device you gave Guardian?"

Six shrugged, "something the..." _what was their name?_ "…Forerunners created?"

"This race is not familiar to you?" he asked.

"No."

"So you really are human," it was more of a statement than a question from the soldier who was sat on Ironhide's shoulder.

She eyed them both wearily, "Yes."

His brows knitted together in confusion, but before he could say more Ratchet ushered them all out the room.

When they'd all left Ratchet came over to her with three metal tools. They were all chunky around the middle, but at each end they were a different thin shape. She assumed that he'd somehow managed to get the measurements from her armor, as Dot didn't carry that kind of information. He placed the tools down gently by Catherine and returned to his work bench.

"Get her out of the armor and get her prepared." Being all he said.

"Right," Catherine mumbled. "Hopefully this won't take long…"

The process didn't take as long as Six thought, as Catherine managed to steadily work her way down the armor. Each piece came off Six with relative ease. It seemed Ratchet was competent enough to manage to build the tools to the exact size, a feat which made Six suspicious.

When all the pieces had been removed –which only took a few minutes- Catherine could just about push them into a neat pile that was out of the way.

Of course the whole thing was done in silence.

"Urmmm, Ratchet?" the yellow robot turned around at the sound of his name.

"What?" He grumbled.

Catherine swallowed, "I think you can scan her now."

Ratchet said nothing as he acted on the woman's words. A faint blue yellow light shot from him to Six before it was gone after a few seconds. The light seemed to bring a small tingling sensation with it that left Six scowling in suspicion.

"Bruised ribs at the back, some internal bleeding, numerous burns that appear to have been caused by….plasma? And a small crack in the right tibia," Ratchet listed before something else seemed to get his attention. His face snapped up and he looked right at her.

"What did you do to yourself?"

"It's called war," Six sneered.

"I'm not talking about the wounds," he growled. "What did you do to your body?!"

Realisation struck her and Six gave a low chuckle, "oh that? It's classified."

"Why you-"

"Urmm, excuse me? Ratchet?" Catherine cut in nervously. "Maybe you should talk to the Major about this after we've fixed her?"

"Yes," he said steely, eyeing Six. "We'll be having words later."

"Don't kid yourself Doc," Six snarked while Ratchet walked away muttering things about dangerous modifications.

"I'm going to need you to remove the suit _carefully_, please," Catherine said softly, tapping the thick black material. "I'll get the rest of the stuff while you do."

Six nodded in acknowledgement and while Catherine moved away to grab some items, she gently slipped herself out of her undersuit. It stuck a few times to some of the wounds she'd gathered over the hours of battling, but it did eventually come off with little pain. Six placed the undersuit next to her and on the cool metal, of which she was lying on.

"I'm sorry, but this is going to be a skeleton operation. It wouldn't be so bad if we were at the Human Med Bay, but they insisted on bringing you here," Catherine sighed as she propped up a small IV drip. There was a single bag of clear coloured liquid currently hanging from it.

Catherine pointed to a small silver bag, "do you know your blood type?"

Six pulled off her dog tag that hung around her neck and threw it at Catherine.

"So you're oh-negative? Good," she muttered to herself as she undid the bag and quickly pulled out a pouch of dark red blood. "I'm just going to-"

"Just do it." Six waved her along irritably, which made the woman hurry up.

When the drip was finally connected to her, Six began leaning back when Catherine stopped her again. Scowling at the woman she waited until a pillow was placed under her head, before she finally reclined back.

"Ratchet? I'm just going to sedate her," Catherine called over to the 'Bot. She then gently injected the substance Six had given her earlier. The Spartan in question watched as the clear liquid was injected into her blood stream. She found the sensation strange a first, as if water was running into her body, but it soon went away. It was a few moments later that Six found herself becoming more and more numb until she fell into unconsciousness for the third time that day.

_I better not wake up in pain, __**again.**_

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed. Remember, any questions leave a review or just PM me :)


	6. Impossible

Heyy all, apologies for the long update time, I've got a ton of assignments to do and rowing also takes up a lot of time. I haven't gone over this chapter as much as I'd like so if there're any mistakes or things that just plain don't make sense, let me know and I'll change them when I can.

I hope everyone's in character as that's something I know I'm going to have an issue with.

Thank you for all the favs, follows :)

**Fanficbrowser: **Thank you, I know what you mean and I'll go back and change some of what you mentioned when I can. As for why she went with Ratchet, it's only because of her armour and the fact they're not completely convinced she's human, otherwise the human medbay would get her.

**Anonymous:** Here you go :)

**XRaiderV1:** Thank you :) I'm glad you thought so

**Blaiseingfire:** It really does, let's see how your bet pays out :P

**Telron:** Thank you :)

**Mr Review:** Here you go and I assure you, Six will be kicking Decepticon ass :D

**Buckingham:** No problem :)

**AK74FU2: **Glad you enjoyed it :)

**amberreed69: **Thank you, hopefully this one won't disappoint :D

**MrSpartan3398:** Will do and thank you :)

**Jak Dragon: **Eventually she probably will, it won't be much though as they lack a lot of resources. Hope this answers your question :

.

Impossible

* * *

**Catherine, Two Hours Later**

Catherine was _exhausted_. She'd spent the past two hours tending to two patients, just because Ratchet didn't like lots of humans in his Med Bay. Hell, she didn't even know anything about the second one, as it wasn't even human, not even close. For one thing it had two hearts! Two! How was she supposed to deal with that?

_The Doctor hits the Med Bay,_ Catherine inwardly chuckled

"At least it wasn't awake," she whispered to herself. If it had been awake she was sure that it would've been much more difficult to deal with its eight foot frame. One thing that did make dealing with the creature easier was that it had very few wounds to deal with, which meant that she didn't have to worry about blood. Although she hadn't dared use any pain killer on it, least it kill the creature. She hadn't dared ask Ratchet about it either as the Autobot seemed very agitated.

Catherine sighed and looked down at the dog tag that 'Six' had thrown at her. She didn't even want to begin to think about the extremely pale girl with no name, because that's what she was, a _girl_. Catherine had her own daughter that looked other than 'Six', and yet this girl seemed to full of hate towards anyone that wasn't human. What had made her like that?

Catherine sighed again before suddenly colliding with a hard metal surface.

"Owww…God damn it," she cursed as she looked up and almost recoiled in horror. "O-Optimus P-Prime? Oh my…I'm really sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going, 'cause I was think about the people we had today, and I needed to find Major Lennox to give him this." She held up the dog tag.

Optimus did a calming motion with his hands before crouching down to Catherine's level.

"Don't worry yourself. I was also lost in thought," he said lightly. "How are the new comers?"

"The alien one's fine, just out for the count. The girl that calls herself 'Six', 'Spartan' or 'Spartan Bee-Three-One-Two' was in worst shape, but thanks to Ratchet she's much better. Although, I think you should go see him. Something was really bothering him about her. Anyway, I should probably go, sorry for taking up your time," Catherine smiled, edging away.

Optimus gave a small smile, "thank you, Catherine."

_Okay, time to get back on track. Wait how did he know my name?_ Catherine thought, confused. Looking down, she found that her name was on her uniform, _figures_. And with that the tall brunette hurried down the corridor away from the heavy footsteps of Optimus Prime.

She continued through corridors as she searched for the Major and all the while she tried not to think about the strange beings in Ratchet's Med Bay. It proved difficult as they were her patients and she _would_ constantly worry about them.

Catherine rounded another corner and kept going through the base for another ten minutes until she entered the rec room. There were a few soldiers in the room, but most were too busy playing cards or other things to notice her entrance. She scanned the room, hoping to find the Major or at least someone who might know where he was.

There were so many people for her to look over, all of them had similar haircuts or hairstyles to the Major and made it difficult to make him out from the back. The room was also much too loud for her to ask if he was in here and she didn't want to interrupt their down time; as it wasn't very often they got any.

Then, at the side of the room, she spotted someone. It wasn't the Major, but it was someone who she thought would probably know where he was.

It was Graham and he looked like he was in the middle of a really good game of cards.

Catherine nibbled her lip, she _really_ didn't want to interrupt him in the middle of a game. But, this was more important than a card game, so damn it she was going to so what she came to do. She sighed, wondering to herself why she was so nervous off the battlefield or when she wasn't doing what she was good at.

With her mind made up she strolled over to where the group of American and British soldiers were playing cards. They looked up as she came over, all smiling at her and not the least bit bothered that she was interrupting their game.

_You're just too nervous for your own good._

A chorus of "Legs!" came from a few of them while others bombarded her with other greetings.

"It's Legs!"

"Jonsey!"

"Someone call a medic?"

There were laughs all around and she gave a small smile before she greeted everyone at once. They offered her a place at the table or to simply sit and watch, but she put them down with a smile.

"Sorry guys," she held up the dog tag. "Duty calls."

They all eyed it keenly and Jack –a light haired America guy- was the first to speak up, "that from the alien at the crash?"

She shook her head, "no, it's from the girl that fainted out on the air strip. I think she lives in the armor, 'cause she's so pale. She's completely white, like an albino, only without the red eyes. She's stubborn too. Anyway, I'm not here to show you all her dog tag. I was wondering if you'd seen the Major, Graham."

The man in question looked up as the other's started chattering about the dog tag or something else entirely.

"I think _Lennox_ was out on the air strip talking to Optimus and the floating orb, called Guardian?" Graham said, a small smile on his face.

"That orb sent Ratchet crazy when it burst into his lab, although that wasn't the only thing," Catherine muttered. Maybe she'd catch the Major if she was quick, then again she did see Optimus a while ago…

Smiling she started to back away, "thanks,

Doing a one-eighty turn she dashed out the room and in the direction of the airstrip. Throughout the trip she couldn't help but threat about her two patients.

The strange alien with the split jaws scared her in a way that she'd never felt. It chilled her to a bone and made her feel nauseous at the pit of her stomach. She wasn't sure why though. It wasn't as if the Autobot's made her feel like that, although, the Decepticon's did. She'd never forget the first time she'd seen those hate filled red eyes. Her body shivered involuntarily at the memory. It didn't explain why there was something about this alien that set her on edge, perhaps it had been something Six had said? The girl seemed very anti-alien and she'd mentioned something about a war. But, despite what she'd heard Catherine had worked through it in order to do her job.

Then there was the girl. She'd been in such a bad shape that Catherine was fearful that she wouldn't survive. Of course it was mainly thanks to Ratchet that she survived as his information and superior techniques made the process much easier. However, due to the severity of the burns the girl would have to remain rested for at least a couple of days and even then the site of the burns would never be the same. Then there was the crack in her tibia, which had been swollen. They'd done as much as they could to secure it, but Catherine needed someone to put a cast on it. Before leaving she'd also managed to put the girl into a set of NEST clothes. They'd been a bit big in areas, but they'd been a better fit than the other's she'd had on hand.

Catherine almost sighed in frustration, but that was when she spotted the Major making his way into the hangar she'd just entered. Beside him was the familiar large black robot that she'd come to know was Ironhide. Truthfully the mech terrified her to an extent, she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was his trigger happy personality?

"Major Lennox?" Catherine called across the hanger. The yell caught the attention of the Major and his head snapped up and in her direction. The giant mech beside him merely tilted his head a bit to see who had called.

She ran over to them and as she came to a stop she quickly saluted him before speaking, "the patients are stable and recovering. This is the girl's dog tag."

She held up the tag and extended it out to him. The Major eyed it as he carefully took it out her hand and then proceeded to study it intently.

"Spartan Bee-three-one-two?" After a while he asked, "Doesn't she have a name?"

Catherine shook her head, "she wouldn't tell me it. I was hoping that you'd be able to use it to find out where she comes from."

The Major flipped over the dog tag and his eyes narrowed in confusion. He looked up at Catherine "Did she mention this 'UNSC'?"

"No, all I know is that there's something about her that really riled Ratchet," Catherine paused in thought. "She should be waking up soon, you could ask her, sir."

"Yeah," he looked up at Ironhide who appeared to read his mind.

"I'll Comm. Ratchet and tell him we're coming down," the large mech rumbled

~/~

**Six, Med Bay**

Six found herself waking up and was glad to find that she wasn't in pain. Blinking away her slightly blurred vision she noticed that she was clothed. Looking down she saw that she had on a simple navy top and trousers which hung loosely on her frame.

Six scanned the room as she quietly lifted herself up. The robot from before was stood in front of a large, metal desk and her armor was in a small pile next to him; her eyes narrowed at that. But, she noticed something else, her helmet wasn't in the pile. Feelings of horror and failure spiked through her and she only hoped that they had not discovered Dot.

"Demon," growled a voice that didn't sound that far away from her. Her head snapped around to face the source and a sneer instantly formed on her face.

_Why did they save it? Do they not know the danger of even one hinge-head? It could call an entire fleet here! _Six raged within her mind as she slowly got up. Her eyes focused on the dark skinned Elite who was positioned behind her on a separate table. She brought her legs up and coiled herself to jump forward and eliminate the threat she'd been taught to.

The Elite had little time to react as Six leapt off the table and wrapped her hands around its neck. She ignored any protests from her body as she moved against its wishes. The Elite struggled beneath her and attempted to push her off. However, she simply pinned its legs with her own and applied as much pressure as she could. While its attempts to push her off became slightly weaker it didn't stop her momentarily losing her grip and allowing it to call out.

"I told you not to-" the annoyed voice of the medical robot called out before stopping short. Six could hear its heavy foot falls as it ran over to them. Just as he reached them the large door to the room opened and Six cursed. It was the red one.

Pushing of hard from the Elite's body Six just about managed to avoid the grabbing hand of the robot. As her hands touched the cool metal Six continued into a roll and from her low crouch she swiftly glanced up at the beings occupying the room. Her mouth twitched as her freshly stitched wounds screamed at the movement.

The green one was the first to talk, "Why must you insist on this? Your body needs to recover!"

Narrowing her eyes Six was about to give him an answer when the Elite spoke over her.

"The Demon cannot help herself," its English was still unclear, but she understood it well enough to know that it was taunting her.

She remained silent as she usually did and waited for one of the robots to speak. She glanced between the two robots, wagering that the red one would speak and that he would attempt to diffuse the situation. He seemed like the _type_.

"While freedom is your right, I cannot condone senseless violence," the red one rumbled softly while Six suppressed a smirk at his predictability. He was simple enough for her to figure out. He was evidently the commander of the robots and because of his kindness it only made people trust him more. When she looked closer she could see something in its eyes, something that looked familiar…

Mentally shaking herself she flashed the red robot a sneer before replying to the ridiculous statement, "Talk to the hinge-head and his _friends_ about senseless violence. I agreed to comply with you, but only if you dispatched of the hinge-head."

The Elite in question said nothing as he sat there seemingly wondering where the conversation was going. At the same time both robots shared a look before the red one tried to speak to her again.

"We took this question to the intelligence in your armor, but it refused to give _anyone_ an answer. Perhaps you could shed some light on the situation?"

Six considered what he said for the moment. She wasn't completely sure what to say, because before she'd passed out Dot had mentioned that the date was two thousand and eight. If that was true, then she had likely travelled back in time as it was theorised that slipspace had the ability to do that if something went wrong. Her mind ventured back to the device she'd found on the ship –the one she'd then given to Guardian's Approach- and came to the conclusion that she'd travelled to the past.

Her fears about the discovering Dot had also come true, she was only glad that the AI refused to tell them anything. But, how long would that last? Surely these robotic beings could attempt to force their way through Dot's defences and gain access to her information. Six mentally berated herself, she should've decommissioned the AI when she'd had the chance, but instead she decided to bring it on a little adventure. Since when was she so sentimental?

Deciding they had waited long enough Six gave them a short, but informative answer, "War."

"We were unaware that humanity was at war with another race," the red robot said, its eyes hardening slightly as it thought about her words. "When did this start?"

Six could tell he was trying to figure out who was the victim and who was the assailant in what she'd mentioned. But, instead of directly asking he was trying to figure out how this war could possibly happen to a species that had yet to achieve space flight.

"The year two thousand, five hundred and twenty five," Six said simply, watching for their reactions. Both robots were good at hiding their reactions –the red one more than the green- but she still managed to see the confusion that befell their faces.

"You're from the future?" The red one asked with a tone of skepticism.

The green robot made a spluttering noise of dismissal before addressing the red one, "Optimus, you can't seriously believe her? She's evidently deluded because of her injuries, which I may add, she is still recovering from."

"The Demon speaks the truth, constructs," the Elite said begrudgingly. Both robots considered him for a moment before the one she now knew was named Optimus turned back to her.

"While it may not be common, perhaps she may not really be from the future as I originally thought," Optimus said to the green robot before turning to her. "Were you born on Earth?"

Despite knowing what he was getting at Six answered his question, "No. I was born on Charybdis Nine, which is a colony of _Earth_."

"Clearly deluded," the green robot snapped.

"I'd originally presumed that your part of humanity originated from another section of space, similar things have happened to our race," Optimus murmured. "What disturbs me is that you do not recognise us, but you are from the future."

"We're still going through a messy first contact," Six snapped, indicating to the Elite.

"Look," she growled. "I've never seen you're kind before, but you need to get rid of him," she nodded to the Elite. "His kind are dangerous, he could call a whole fleet here if you're not careful and if you don't kill him, I will."

Six leaned back a little, letting her warning and threat sink in. It still didn't sit well with her that these other aliens were on Earth. She didn't trust them, no race would help an outsider out of the goodness of their 'heart'. They had to be after something. It didn't make sense if they weren't.

Before Optimus could say anything the large door slid open and a black robot stepped into the room carrying a very windswept man in its hand. Six tensed as she recognised the robot that had pinned her to the floor before she'd passed out, the one they called 'Ironhide'. The man was the one who been trying to convince her to trust them, the 'Major'.

"I thought I told you to wait until later," the green robot snapped at the pair, both of whom merely shrugged at him.

"If we let you have your way we'd never see her," Ironhide rumbled as he set the Major onto the table Six has previously been lying on.

"Besides, she looks fine," the Major added, a small smile making its way onto his face as the green robot rolled its eyes.

"She is nowhere near fine!" The green robot growled. "Surely the human medic mentioned this to you?"

The Major and Ironhide looked slightly puzzled while Optimus nodded his head in understanding.

"That is one of the reasons why I'm here, old friend. I encountered Catherine in the corridor and she mentioned that something about 'Six' was bothering you," Optimus said, casting a small glance at the green robot.

"It's unnatural and unnecessarily dangerous!" The green robot growled.

"You're overreacting," Six snapped before the green robot could say anymore. "We've all had to make sacrifices."

She thought back to Noble team. They'd all sacrificed so much for Reach, but in the end it had still fallen to the might of the covenant. She hoped that whatever she'd given to Captain Keys was worth it all.

She thought about them all: _Jorge_, Kat, Carter, Emile. She was so sure she could've done something to stop them from dying.

Why was she the one to survive? Why did Jorge detonate the slipspace bomb instead of allowing her to do it? He was a Spartan-Two and would've been much more proficient on the battlefield than her. _Jorge…_she mentally sighed before she could continue that trail of thought, deciding instead to move onto the next dead member of Noble team.

Why had Kat been the one to be shot? How had she not noticed that there was a Phantom overhead, or that Kat's shields were down?

Why had she been chosen to take the package? If she hadn't Carter wouldn't have had to sacrifice himself for her and Emile.

Why hadn't she been able to warn Emile about the Phantom? He could've easily shot it down and then they both would've been able to live to fight another day.

'_Why? Why? Why?' Look at yourself! Since when did you become so __**soft!**_ _You're a soldier! _Six mentally berated herself.

"What is it Ratchet?" The Major asked, glancing between the green robot -now known as Ratchet- and her.

"This 'Spartan' has had augmentations done to her body, all can be damaging if they're not accepted. I'll discuss them in detail with you later," Ratchet rumbled. The others nodded in agreement before silence lapsed into the room.

"When Ratchet clears you to leave the med bay-" The Major began, but Six interrupted him.

"I don't need his permission to leave, I'm fine now. I need to work on getting back."

Ratchet snorted, "You will do no such thing, your body is still suffering from extreme exhaustion and its wounds."

Six gave the robot a weary glance; who was he to tell her what to do? It wasn't as if she was going to start wrestling aliens to the floor. Then there was the fact that she wasn't going to stay in the same room as the hinge-head for longer than necessary. If they weren't going to kill it then she'd just stay away from it. _Simple_.

"I _am_ going up to the ship -send someone to keep an eye on me if you want- and I'll need my armor. But, I will not stay here with the hinge-head," she stated, her tone suggesting she wouldn't compromise. "I agreed to come with you. I needed your help, but now that I'm fixed up my priority is returning home."

The Major glanced from Ratchet and then to Optimus before his eyes made their way to her. He sighed before speaking, "I can't agree right now, letting you run around could put everyone at this base in danger. We don't know that much about you and, well, for all we know you could be somehow working for the enemy."

Six's ears perked up, they were at war with someone that wasn't human? She looked over the robots and spotted a face shaped emblem on them. _Different factions?_ Had the humans of this time somehow got caught up in the war of another species?

"I assure you, I'd never work with _aliens_," Six sneered.

"Your story's just too outlandish for us to believe right off the bat," he explained. "When we've fully questioned you and your companions, then we'll know."

"You may as well start now," Six suggested. If they wouldn't let her do anything without some information on her, she would have to divulge some. "You already know where I come from and _when_, so ask away."

"Alright," the Major agreed as he thought of a question. "What's your name?"

Six quirked a brow at him, she knew what he wanted, but her name was just a number now. "Spartan-Be-Three-One-Two or Six."

He frowned, "Your real name?"

When she didn't answer he sighed and mentally vowed to find out later. "How old are you? If you don't mind me asking."

"I'm twenty-two."

Both his eyes widened and he asked in surprised, "you're only twenty-two? I thought you were older."

Six shook her head, "Most Spartan-Threes are around my age, I'm one of the youngest though."

"You mentioned that before and it's on your dog tag, what exactly is a Spartan?"

"A Spartan is basically a super-soldier created to fight for humanity. As the robot has told you I've had augmentations done to me, all Spartans have them." Six explained before quickly adding, "Most of the information on us is heavily classified, so I can't tell you much."

"There're more of you?!" Ratchet boomed, clearly unhappy about the prospect.

Six nodded.

"Are there many of you then? Spartan-Threes I mean," the Major asked as if interested.

Six tensed her jaw, "There were a lot of us, but most of us were wiped out after two missions and the attack on Reach. I'm probably one of the last."

"Ah, sorry," the Major said embarrassed, his steely eyes connected with hers and she saw understanding. "If it's any consolation I know how it feels, most of us here do."

She waved him off, "It's fine. As soldiers it's our duty to protect humanity, whatever the cost."

Some of them looked slightly taken aback by her words, but they said nothing. The Major looked like he wanted to say something and he almost did. However, no sound left him and he shook his head before moving on to another question.

"Have you ever met anyone like the Autobots?"

Six eyed the robots before her, she was sure she'd remember meeting something that large and _alien_. The Covenant certainly hadn't employed the use of giant robots, someone in the UNSC would've noticed and they all would've been warned.

"No."

"Not even a talking car or something?" He checked.

She sighed, "the closest we've got to them are AI and even they don't have their own physical bodies."

"So no robots," he agreed. "You wouldn't happen to have anything to prove your story?"

"I should have something in my armor; I just need a projector or something like that."

"We won't do it right now, I need to get on the horn to the General ; he'll want to be present for it." he explained, "we'll probably be round after you've had a cast put on-"

Six chuckled, "that won't be necessary."

"I'll be the judge of that," Ratchet growled. "If you have the cast I'll be willing to let you out of here in a few hours."

_He's good_, Six thought to herself._ He knows I don't want to be around the hinge-head and this way he gets me put in a damn cast._

"Fine, the sooner I get out of here the better."

Ratchet gave a smug smile before walking over to her and extending his hand. She glanced at the hand know that he expected her to walk onto, _if I have to._ Without a word she climbed onto the hand and stood steady as he moved around and placed her on the table she'd previously been on.

When she hopped off his hand he returned to his original position next to Optimus. The big robot had said little during the Major's questioning and Six was curious what his opinion on the whole situation was. Well, she wasn't that curious. He was an _alien_ after all. But, she couldn't help but be reminded about the AI they had back home. These robots seemed so similar, only they had bodies and weren't created by humans.

Frowning, she was brought out of her thoughts when the Major addressed the Elite.

"You up to answering some questions?" he asked with a small smile. Clearly the Major was interested in meeting another species, despite her warnings about how dangerous the Elite was.

"Of course human," the Elite rumbled. "Perhaps you will find I'm not as bloodthirsty as the Demon makes me out to be."

"Right," the Major shifted uncomfortably. "What's your name and…species…?"

The Elite did its own equivalent of a smile, "I, human, am Roh 'Rithinee, a noble Sangheili warrior from the planet Sanghelious and a Field Marshal of the Covenant."

"What is this Covenant?"

"The Covenant is a hegemony made up of multiple species united in worship towards the Forerunners," Roh summarised.

_Conveniently leaves out the reason why they're wiping out humanity is because of their 'religion', _Six scoffed inwardly.

"What has this got to do with a war on humanity," the Major asked, gesturing to Six.

Roh gave Six a side-ways glance –to which he received a smug smile- and began to tenderly explain, "after we encountered the humans twenty-seven years ago…they were declared by the Hierarchs a-as an affront to…the Gods and were to be…eliminated…"

A heavy silence hung in the room. Roh hung his head in shame while the Major had a look of shock and disbelief on his face. Six found the robots much harder to read, but she could tell that they weren't happy; especially so when the one named Ironhide spoke up.

"You decided to wipe out an entire species because of your _religion_," he growled.

~/~

**Roh**

As he stumbled over his words Roh could see the Demon giving him a smug look out of the corner of his eye. She knew he was in trouble, but what could he do? He'd been a tool of the Hierarchs –all of the Covenant were- and had never had reason to question them. How was he going to make them understand how important the Forerunners where to the Covenant? It wouldn't lessen the crime that they had committed because it was just wrong; he knew that _now_.

When he finished the disjointed explanation there was silence. The human looked shocked among other things while the constructs just seemed plain angry; especially the red one. The red one –Optimus was apparently his name- was the angriest, not because of any obvious change of his expression. It was in fact because of the small narrowing of the eyes and the thinning of the mouth that projected the red ones anger at such intensity that Roh could _feel_ the anger rolling off of him.

The other two were more obvious with their anger. The black one had a similar expression to the red one, only it was more prominent and terrifying by the battle scarred face and intense blue eyes. At his sides his large hands were curled into large fists that Roh was sure had seen much use. Then there was the medic; who was already scary in his own way because of the permanent frown on his face. Add an oversized tool -which Roh had seen on human planets- to his large hands and you had one scary medic.

_It doesn't help that the construct is supposed to be my __medic__. It would've been better if they'd left me to die, at least then I would still have some honor. _

"You decided to wipe out an entire species because of your _religion_," snapped Roh out of his inner dilemma and he found the black construct preparing to step forward when the red one stopped him. He glanced up to the red one and Roh watched with interest as he spoke, "Optimus-"

Optimus moved his hand onto the black constructs shoulder before speaking in a voice of calm rage, "For what reason would you to wage such a war? The humans may be a violent race, but they are young and as we've learned it is possible to coexist with them."

Roh swallowed. He then took a deep breath before looking into the deep blue eyes of Optimus, "I'm unsure why the Hierarchs decided to wage a war against humanity. However, I do have an idea."

"Go on," Optimus prompted, his voice still the same tone.

"I think the Hierarchs were trying to cover something up. As for what that would be I don't know, but the Oracle clearly respects the Demon and that must have something to do with it."

There was silence as Optimus lent towards Roh. The giant robot made no move to say anything as he appeared to be thinking and unable to help himself Roh spoke again.

"I was told that when we discovered the Humans, things in the Covenant were steadily declining. Perhaps that is another reason as to why war was declared on the Humans." Roh was babbling now. He snorted inwardly at himself; look at him now, what a Field Marshal he was if all it took was an oversized robot to unnerve him. To tell the truth though, Roh had always drawn strength from his belief in the Great Journey. But now that that was a lie where was he supposed to get his strength from? What was he supposed to fight for?

"While I cannot Judge the actions of an event that may not be true," as Optimus spoke, Roh could feel the weight to his words. "Know that if it is true and you show any such hostility towards our Human comrades, we will not hesitate in our actions to ensure their safety. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, construct."

With the hard look not leaving him, Optimus turned to the dark-haired Human in front of Roh, "Major Lennox, I suggest keeping the nature of this 'conflict' from your men. However, it is ultimately your choice, you know your men best."

Said Human grimaced, "As much as I don't want to, it's probably for the best. Things around here'll be tense enough without this."

Roh let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. He'd been unsure what action the construct would take as he'd never encountered anything like them. Not even the Humans employed anything like them throughout the war, which explained the Demon's reluctance to trust them.

Optimus moved away from Roh as he and his comrades began discussing things amongst themselves. On the metal bench next to him the medic construct was attending the Demon and attempting to check her wounds. Roh could hear the frustration grow in the constructs voice as she continued to wave him off. Although, after a short time and with a large smirk on her face the Demon allowed him to go over her wounds.

Taking advantage of the few moments of reprieve Roh mulled over his own situation. He was still slightly confused about everything that had happened. It appeared that they had not landed where either he or the Demon wanted. He didn't know exactly where they were. But, given that there were Humans working with another species and the Demon's nature towards them, they were somewhere completely unknown. Or, that was what he'd thought to begin with, until they mentioned time-travel. The idea was completely ludicrous to Roh, but something in him couldn't help but think that it was the answer.

_It is even possible? If we're indeed back in time then everything changes, the war on Humanity can be stopped before it even begins. But something isn't right, these…constructs, they are nowhere to be seen in our time. What happens to them? Are they killed off by this war they keep hinting at? What about Humanity? Would they not have been much different in the future when they met the Covenant? I was aware that we were their First Contact. This doesn't make sense! _

_By the Forerunners, where are we?! _

Frustration brushed over Roh at his musing, followed by trepidation. He wasn't overly worried about being back in time, it was the fact that what he knew about this place so far did not match up with his knowledge in the future. Then there was the fact that if he and the Demon were indeed stuck here then that would mean he was stuck with Humans, on a _Human_ world.

_Forerunners, save me. I will surely go mad._

"Sorry about that," Roh looked up at the noise. It was the Human Major and he still looked mildly upset about Roh's revelation from the future. "Do you mind if we continue?"

Roh sent the Human a soft gaze; if he was stuck here he may as well try and get along with the natives. "That is up to you Human. No doubt what I just told you will take a while to come to terms with, even if you are unsure if what we say is true. However, I'm happy to continue."

"You're right about that," the Human forced a chuckle, his body still tense. "So I guess we'll continue. How about your age?"

Roh thought for a moment.

"In Human years I would be about…._ffirty,_" Roh said, struggling with the word at the end.

The Major's brows rose a little, "So you were only a kid when this 'war' started?"

Roh nodded and watched as the Humans eyes travelled to the Demon, realising that she hadn't even been born. Roh realised too and found that it explained a lot about the Demon's bitterness.

Turning back to Roh he asked another question, "Have _you_ encountered anything like the Autobots?"

Not needing to look at the constructs in question Roh gave a similar answer to the Demon's. The Human nodded and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. Clearly he felt out of his depth when it came to Roh and the Demon, but there was something else that bothered him. Frowning Roh decided it would be best to voice his musings.

"I'm curious, Human, you've ask both me and the Demon about encounters with these constructs. Who is it that we may have been in contact with?"

"I think it'll be best for Optimus to explain that," the Major said, withdrawing his hand from his hair and gesturing towards the large red construct.

"The enemy Major Lennox refers to are the Decepticons," Optimus began grabbing the attention of both Roh and the Demon. Bringing a large finger up to the side of his face, Optimus pressed something and his eyes then proceeded to project a sophisticated 3D image that encompassed the entire room. The floor seemed to breakaway where anyone wasn't standing and in its place dark and fiery chasms of metal appeared while metal structures curled up from multiple places. The sounds of explosions were accompanied by different bursts of light all over the room.

"We were once a peaceful race of mechanical robotic beings, until we were betrayed by Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. All who defied them were destroyed," as if to prove a point a large spear shot across the room and impaled a construct. It body was pinned to the floor and instantly went limp. As everyone looked in the direction it came from they saw a large construct with a sharp rage filled face, cheering at his kill. Strange symbols decorated the metal on the side of his face as he turned to the side and with him the view changed to a large battle field. As the battles rage on around them Optimus continued to explain, "Then came the war between the Autobots who fought for freedom and the Decepticons who dreamt of tyranny. Overmatched and outnumbered, our defeat was all but certain. But as our war raged across the planet, the planet itself was eventually consumed and the Allspark was lost to the stars."

Bodies continued to fall on, off and around the metal honeycomb structure that stretched over the chasms. Optimus did not stop in his explanation as the scene around them changed again, only this time it was a giant metallic cube with millions of symbols engraved all over it. "Megatron chased the Allspark to Earth, but crash-landed before he could retrieve the cube."

Again the scene changed and before them, frozen in ice, was the robot they had seen before. A permanent snarl was on his face as his claw like hands were tensed in different positions. "Until last year Megatron remained frozen and unable to reach the Cube. However, when news of the cube reached his Decepticons and us, they stumbled upon his whereabouts and managed to release him."

The scene shifted to a Human city that looked like the aftermath of an assault. Debris and burning vehicles lined the streets as two large, but familiar constructs battled at a crossroads.

Out of the corner of his eye Roh saw the Demon tense and her lips twitch up into a small sneer. But before he could mull over her reaction a young human sprang into view clutching a miniaturised version of the cube they had seen before.

"A destructive battle ensured and in order to prevent Megatron from gaining the Allspark I requested that our young ally, Sam Witwickey, place the cube into my chest." Optimus' voice was heavy and full of regret and Roh could only wonder how important this Allspark was.

The illusion before them continued as Optimus and Megatron grappled with each other. Ignoring the clash of metal on metal the young Human boy rand forwards with the cube in his hands. As he did Megatron kicked Optimus into a building, who then landed near Sam. Stumbling the boy almost fell over as Megatron came running up behind him only to be knocked over by a well-placed swipe to the legs from Optimus –who was still on the floor.

Struggling to stand Megatron clawed at the boy as Optimus attempted to get to his feet, the wounds they'd inflicted on each other making the movements much more difficult. Megatron growled and snarled at the boy, who attempted to crawl away, while Optimus pleaded with him to put the cube in his chest.

The words appeared to make the boy realise something as he bravely stood up and held the cube up to Megatron's chest. With a yell torn from his very being Optimus called out to the boy, but they fell on deaf ears as Sam continued to push the cube up at Megatron's chest.

"Despite my instructions, Sam placed the Allspark into Megatron's chest, both ending his life and destroying the cube. I am forever in his debt," Optimus' voice was sad, but content at the same time. Roh looked up at the construct that had been narrating the illusion before them and saw the way he looked at Megatron. The look wasn't completely full of hate. There was something else, something that reminded Roh of the way he'd looked at his hard-headed brother.

Turning back to the projection before him, Roh watched in awe as hot orange and white light projected from the cube and slammed into Megatron's dark metal chest. A strange noise was emitted and sparks flew as the boy held steady, despite the large and dangerous metal being above him. As quickly as it had begun the bottom section of the cube turned into the hot orange light and slammed up into Megatron's chest.

Roh's awe turned to shock as the large being reared back onto his legs, letting out choked gasps before pitching forwards towards the boy. His hands clutched at his chest as the light from the cube remained. With one last gasp Megatron fell backwards and landed on his back right next to Sam. Dead.

"Since then there has been little Decepticon activity, it is something that worries us as Megatron's second in command –Starscream- managed to flee the battle."

Slowly the floor beneath them returned to normal and a sober look was on almost everyone's faces. Optimus still had a look of regret on his face while Roh noticed that the Demon appeared angry. Roh himself was left feeling a sense of shock. He wasn't sure how to react to what he'd seen. It wasn't as bad as what he'd seen during his time with the Covenant, but that was what made it difficult to say anything.

"I want to help."

The words surprised everyone in the room as they were ground out of the Demon's mouth. Roh's eyes widened a bit, hadn't she been adamant about going home not a few moments ago?

"What?" the Major asked, just as confused as everyone else in the room.

"I want to help kick these bastards off Earth. Unless you have a slip-space drive –or something similar- lying around that I can use to get back," the Demon snapped.

Roh's head snapped up in disbelief, he was on _Earth_? The home of the Humans? The planet that the entire Covenant was slowly, but surely, making its way towards? No wonder the Demon was twitchy. Knowing the now wasn't the time to think about the implications of this information, Roh filled it away for later and continued to watch the spectacle before him.

"Why do you suddenly want to help us?" the Major quizzed, his brows furrowed together as he tried to wrap his head around the Demons sudden change. Even Roh was wondering what strange thoughts were running through the Demons twisted mind.

* * *

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Until next time, whenever that may be….


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